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29 May 2008
Word on the Web
Judges 18 v 7-13
So the five men left. When they came to the city of Laish, they saw that the people there lived in safety, like the people of Sidon. They thought they were safe and had plenty of everything. They lived a long way from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone else.
When the five men returned to Zorah and Eshtaol, their relatives asked them, "What did you find?"
They answered, "We have seen the land, and it is very good. We should attack them. Aren't you going to do something? Don't wait! Let's go and take that land! When you go, you will see there is plenty of land - plenty of everything! The people are not expecting an attack. Surely God has handed that land over to us!"
So six hundred Danites left Zorah and Eshtaol ready for war. On their way they set up camp near the city of Kiriath Jearim in Judah. That is why the place west of Kiriath Jearim is named Mahaneh Dan to this day. From there they travelled on to the mountains of Ephraim. Then they came to Micah's house.
These days we take the concept of living in safety in the "Western World" for granted. Many people in the world, though, still face the problems associated with conflict, revolution and war every day. It is difficult to know how God is moving in such situations - perhaps it is actually impossible to work out exactly how his Spirit is moving when nations take up arms against one another. It is important, when reading about the prospect of war in this passage, to understand that God's plan of Salvation was not one that was acted out in a single episode. Throughout history God taught his people of Israel to be faithful to Him, so that He could send a Saviour who could perform miracles and healings - because of their faith. In building up that faith the people sometimes got things right, and often they got things wrong. However much going to war may seem to be the wrong thing to us today, the people in this passage strongly believed they were doing what God wanted them to do. For that reason, we must persevere through (and reread) the parts of the Bible which seem harder to understand - so that we can get to know God and his ways more fully.
Lord God, teach me the true meaning behind the Scriptures I read, and help me to apply the lessons you lay before me, in my everyday life. Amen.
Written by Howard Dobson
Word on the Web
Judges 18 v 7-13
So the five men left. When they came to the city of Laish, they saw that the people there lived in safety, like the people of Sidon. They thought they were safe and had plenty of everything. They lived a long way from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone else.
When the five men returned to Zorah and Eshtaol, their relatives asked them, "What did you find?"
They answered, "We have seen the land, and it is very good. We should attack them. Aren't you going to do something? Don't wait! Let's go and take that land! When you go, you will see there is plenty of land - plenty of everything! The people are not expecting an attack. Surely God has handed that land over to us!"
So six hundred Danites left Zorah and Eshtaol ready for war. On their way they set up camp near the city of Kiriath Jearim in Judah. That is why the place west of Kiriath Jearim is named Mahaneh Dan to this day. From there they travelled on to the mountains of Ephraim. Then they came to Micah's house.
These days we take the concept of living in safety in the "Western World" for granted. Many people in the world, though, still face the problems associated with conflict, revolution and war every day. It is difficult to know how God is moving in such situations - perhaps it is actually impossible to work out exactly how his Spirit is moving when nations take up arms against one another. It is important, when reading about the prospect of war in this passage, to understand that God's plan of Salvation was not one that was acted out in a single episode. Throughout history God taught his people of Israel to be faithful to Him, so that He could send a Saviour who could perform miracles and healings - because of their faith. In building up that faith the people sometimes got things right, and often they got things wrong. However much going to war may seem to be the wrong thing to us today, the people in this passage strongly believed they were doing what God wanted them to do. For that reason, we must persevere through (and reread) the parts of the Bible which seem harder to understand - so that we can get to know God and his ways more fully.
Lord God, teach me the true meaning behind the Scriptures I read, and help me to apply the lessons you lay before me, in my everyday life. Amen.
Written by Howard Dobson
