Judg 1:34 | KingComments | STEP | The tribe of Dan is the worst off. He cannot drive out the enemies, on the contrary, the enemies drive out the Danites from their inheritance. It is the last phase of the deterioration described in this chapter. The blessing of the land is no longer enjoyed in any way. The attitude of the tribe of Dan is the same as that of the Christian who is completely absorbed by the things of the world. Certainly, he says he is still a Christian, sometimes he is in a Christian meeting, but his life and his speech hardly show anything that he is a real Christian. There is nothing to show that he likes to hear or talk about the things of God and the Lord Jesus. At home, his Bible remains closed and he does not think of praying. The Amorites are the first enemies that Israel has met and defeated on its way to the promised land. In connection with the Amorite, God says to His people: “begin to take possession and contend with him in battle” ( ). This battle takes place before the people have gone through the Jordan. It is a region that is not in the promised land, but on the wilderness side of the Jordan. Therefore, it does not speak of spiritual blessings in the heavenly places, but of earthly blessings. These blessings must also be conquered; we should thank God also for all earthly blessings. By earthly blessings we can understand things like health, a good marriage, a satisfying job, an invigorating time of relaxation. These are not our actual spiritual, heavenly and eternal blessings. We have earthly blessings in common with unbelievers. The only difference is that the Christian accepts these things from God’s hand and thanks Him for it, while the unbeliever does not. But when the Christian takes such blessings for granted and even lives for them, he is spiritually driven out of his inheritance by the Amorites. He does his utmost to stay healthy, forgetting that he is in God’s hand; he does his utmost to keep his marriage good and never has time to serve someone else spiritually; his job is all for him, he is a real workaholic, which is at the expense of visiting Christian meetings; he does his utmost to make his next vacation an even greater success than the previous one: studying travel guides, weighing the different destinations, taking in as much information as possible, to be fully prepared to go to the chosen destination. But there is no interest, no commitment, no time for what God has prepared for those who love Him. Fortunately, Joseph’s house is so attentive that it stops the Amorites. Fortunately, there are still people in the people of God who have an eye for the dangers of earthly blessings. Let us listen to them and make a profit from them.

‏ Judges 1:34

Dan, the Amorites and the House of Joseph

The tribe of Dan is the worst off. He cannot drive out the enemies, on the contrary, the enemies drive out the Danites from their inheritance. It is the last phase of the deterioration described in this chapter. The blessing of the land is no longer enjoyed in any way.

The attitude of the tribe of Dan is the same as that of the Christian who is completely absorbed by the things of the world. Certainly, he says he is still a Christian, sometimes he is in a Christian meeting, but his life and his speech hardly show anything that he is a real Christian. There is nothing to show that he likes to hear or talk about the things of God and the Lord Jesus. At home, his Bible remains closed and he does not think of praying.

The Amorites are the first enemies that Israel has met and defeated on its way to the promised land. In connection with the Amorite, God says to His people: “begin to take possession and contend with him in battle” (Deu 2:24). This battle takes place before the people have gone through the Jordan. It is a region that is not in the promised land, but on the wilderness side of the Jordan.

Therefore, it does not speak of spiritual blessings in the heavenly places, but of earthly blessings. These blessings must also be conquered; we should thank God also for all earthly blessings. By earthly blessings we can understand things like health, a good marriage, a satisfying job, an invigorating time of relaxation. These are not our actual spiritual, heavenly and eternal blessings. We have earthly blessings in common with unbelievers. The only difference is that the Christian accepts these things from God’s hand and thanks Him for it, while the unbeliever does not.

But when the Christian takes such blessings for granted and even lives for them, he is spiritually driven out of his inheritance by the Amorites. He does his utmost to stay healthy, forgetting that he is in God’s hand; he does his utmost to keep his marriage good and never has time to serve someone else spiritually; his job is all for him, he is a real workaholic, which is at the expense of visiting Christian meetings; he does his utmost to make his next vacation an even greater success than the previous one: studying travel guides, weighing the different destinations, taking in as much information as possible, to be fully prepared to go to the chosen destination. But there is no interest, no commitment, no time for what God has prepared for those who love Him.

Fortunately, Joseph’s house is so attentive that it stops the Amorites. Fortunately, there are still people in the people of God who have an eye for the dangers of earthly blessings. Let us listen to them and make a profit from them.