Judg 1:19 | KingComments | STEP | Judah overcomes and takes possession of territory because God is with him and he relies on Him. This is an encouragement for all those who dare to engage in spiritual struggle. The Lord is always with those who go with Him. Doing what He says means having Him with us. And which enemy is equal to us then? With the Lord we are stronger than any enemy. Without the Lord, we lose out to the weakest enemy. Yet there is still something lacking in Judah’s faith. “But they could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley because they had iron chariots.” What’s the matter? God is with Judah if he keeps to the word God has spoken to kill all enemies. Unfortunately, Judah does not fully trust God. He gets scared of the iron chariot. This stems from a lack of trust in Him, which is already evident from the fact that He has asked Simeon to go with Him ( ). For God, iron chariots are no problem at all ( ). Whoever does not consider God’s power sufficient limits his victory. It is likewise with the walls of the cities and the giants in the land. He who compares it to his own strength, fades away, but he who compares it to God sees no difficulty at all. This is not to belittle the problem, but to bring it back to the proportions that apply to faith. In Daniel 2 the force of iron is described ( ). Nothing can resist the power of iron if we compare it to human power. But what is the power of iron for God? God breaks the iron with His mighty arm. For Him it is nothing more than “chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found” ( ). Our problem is often that we think too little of God, so we measure everything by our own abilities. Then it turns out that we are not able to overcome a certain problem, which is to the dishonor of God and to harm and disgrace for ourselves.

‏ Judges 1:19

The Weakness of Judah

Judah overcomes and takes possession of territory because God is with him and he relies on Him. This is an encouragement for all those who dare to engage in spiritual struggle. The Lord is always with those who go with Him. Doing what He says means having Him with us. And which enemy is equal to us then? With the Lord we are stronger than any enemy. Without the Lord, we lose out to the weakest enemy.

Yet there is still something lacking in Judah’s faith. “But they could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley because they had iron chariots.” What’s the matter? God is with Judah if he keeps to the word God has spoken to kill all enemies. Unfortunately, Judah does not fully trust God. He gets scared of the iron chariot. This stems from a lack of trust in Him, which is already evident from the fact that He has asked Simeon to go with Him (Jdg 1:3). For God, iron chariots are no problem at all (Jos 11:4 ; 6 ; 9 ; Jos 17:18).

Whoever does not consider God’s power sufficient limits his victory. It is likewise with the walls of the cities and the giants in the land. He who compares it to his own strength, fades away, but he who compares it to God sees no difficulty at all. This is not to belittle the problem, but to bring it back to the proportions that apply to faith.

In Daniel 2 the force of iron is described (Dan 2:40). Nothing can resist the power of iron if we compare it to human power. But what is the power of iron for God? God breaks the iron with His mighty arm. For Him it is nothing more than “chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found” (Dan 2:35). Our problem is often that we think too little of God, so we measure everything by our own abilities. Then it turns out that we are not able to overcome a certain problem, which is to the dishonor of God and to harm and disgrace for ourselves.