Judges 1

For those who know me, it would be a surprise to say that I do not have a lot to say about this passage.  There is a clear message in Judges 1, and that is Israel lost.  They failed to conquer their enemies after they began to enter the Land of Canaan.  I cannot help but think of the significance of the first portion of the chapter, where we are told that Joshua has died.  I know this is a normal occurrence and that this not out of the ordinary, but I have to think that there has to be some connection to losing such a great leader and the failure of Israel to conquer the land.  I know that God won the victory and that God is still God, but is there some connection to losing the leadership of Joshua in Israel?  I do not know the answer to that question, but a major error happened by Israel after his death.  We see this in vv. 24-26.

Israel had been commanded by God to destroy all the inhabitants of the land.  All of them.  Livestock, people, buildings, and even crops to be destroyed to show his dominance over every other god.  In vv. 24-26, they do not do this.  I know this seems compassionate and kind, but this disobedience to God was serious.  It is after this happened that we see that Israel began to fall and all of this happened after the death of Joshua.  So is this significant?  Is Joshua's death that detrimental for the obedience of Israel to follow the commands of the Lord?  I do not know.  I think these
are questions that we need to ask ourselves.  Are we obedient to God simply because of the people that we look to for leadership in our lives?  I encourage you to examine your heart and to think if obedience to God means doing something that we do not necessarily agree with, would we still do it?  Maybe you will have answers to discuss with people in your specific community and something that we would ask ourselves throughout Red Door.