Juges 1 - 1 Samuel 8

Judges 1

Israel Fails to Drive out the Canaanites

Judah took possession of the hill country, but failed to drive out the inhabitants…

The people of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who live in Jerusalem…

Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean, or Taanach, or Dor, or Ibleam, or Megiddo…

And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute, and did not utterly drive them out.

Neither did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites in Gezer…

Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, or Nahalol…

Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Accho, or Zidon, or Ahlab, or Achzib, or Helbah, or Aphik, or Rehob…

Neither did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh, or Beth-anath…

And the children of Dan were forced into the mountains by the Amorites…

Judges 2

Israel’s Disobedience

The angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, “I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land I swore to give to your fathers. And I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars.’ Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this? And I have also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you; they will become as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall become a snare to you.’”

When the angel of the LORD had spoken these things to all the children of Israel, the people wept aloud, and they called that place Bokim. There they offered sacrifices to the LORD.

The Death of Joshua

And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great things the LORD had done for Israel.

And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died being a hundred and ten years old. And they buried him in the land of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gaash.

Israel’s Unfaithfulness

And after that a whole generation died and was buried. Another generation grew up who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel. Then the children of Israel did evil in the eyes of the LORD and served Baalim. They forsook the LORD God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshipped the gods of the people around them, and bowed themselves to them, and provoked the LORD to anger. They forsook the LORD, and served Baal and Ashtoreth.

And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and He delivered them into the hands of spoilers, and they took from them. He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist. Whenever Israel went out to fight, the hand of the LORD was against them to defeat them, just as he had sworn to them; and they were greatly distressed.

Nevertheless the LORD raised up judges, who saved them out of the hands of the spoilers who took from them. And yet they would not listen to their judges but went whoring after other gods and bowed themselves to them. They quickly turned from the ways of their fathers, who had obeyed the commandments of the LORD.

Whenever the LORD raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the LORD relented because of their groaning under those who oppressed and afflicted them.

But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their fathers, following other gods and serving and worshiping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.

Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel and said, “Because this people has violated the covenant I commanded of their fathers, and has not listened to me, I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died. I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the LORD and walk in it as their fathers did, or not.”

The LORD allowed those nations to remain.

1 Samuel 8

Israel Demands a King

When Samuel (a great judge) grew old, he appointed his sons as judges over Israel. But his sons did not follow his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.

So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel. They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now make us a king to judge us, just as all the other nations have.”

But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. And the LORD told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them; just as they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights.”

Samuel’s Warning Against Kings

So Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king. He said, “This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots.”

“Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots.”

“He will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and cooks, and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his servants. He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officers and his servants. Your male and female servants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his servants.”

“When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the LORD will not answer you in that day.”

The LORD Grants Israel’s Request

But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We will have a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, and our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.”

When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the LORD. The LORD answered, “Listen to them and give them a king.”

Still the children of Israel rejected God and refused to trust Him…

God warned them what a king would require of them and still they would rather have a man rule over them instead of God.

In all the events of the Exodus the lesson that stands out most is: We must learn to truly trust God – for everything! In fact, the only reason we are on this earth is to learn to trust God with everything – including our life, and the lives of our spouse, children, and the rest of our family and friends.

One fact that startles most Christians is that the children of Israel had so little faith. God performed one miracle after another, and yet, within days or weeks, they were again murmuring and complaining that God, through Moses, had brought them into the wilderness to die.

Yet the majority of Christians today are guilty of the same problem. We think we have faith in God, but under careful scrutiny, we find that our “faith” is usually in “man” and not God. We trust the church pastors, evangelists, doctors, counselors, support groups, etc. That is where human beings usually turn when they have trouble – to man, not God. They actually trust man – and not God.

God is our Healer, God is our Savior, God is our King.

Man will always fail us. Only God can accomplish all these things.

Why do the vast majority of Christians depend on man – instead of trusting and depending on God? Same as the children of Israel…

They do NOT know God. They only know ABOUT God!

We can know about the president of the United States, or the governor of the state, but do we know them personally?

The main thing we need to concentrate on is getting to KNOW God, up close and personal by spending time with Him every day in Bible study and prayer, becoming one with God – allowing Him to make every decision in our life. Only then will we be in perfect communion with Him. Only then will we learn to trust Him with our life and the lives of our loved ones.