Judg 1:6-7 | KingComments | STEP | That Judah and Simeon are not completely in the way of God and do not act according to His thoughts is also evident from the way they treat Adoni-bezek. They do something God has not commanded them to do. Joshua never did anything similar with the kings of Canaan. It is an act of human retribution. Nowhere in the Old Testament is there a command from God to His people to torture their enemies. Indeed, they should not feel sorry for them and should kill them without pardon, but cruel treatment is not prescribed. What the people do here does not speak in their favor. What Adoni-bezek says about it is another matter. Adoni-bezek acted in this way to increase his power and fame. God uses the failure of Judah and Simeon to repay him. It pleads for him that in the treatment he undergoes he sees the righteous punishment of God. He acknowledges that this judgment rightly affects him. As he has done, so is he repaid. In his case the word is fulfilled: “For whatever a man sows, this he will also reap” ( ). In several histories in the Bible we come across the truth of this word. And how often have we experienced this ourselves? Man meets what he does. Adoni-bezek’s answer to the punishment he is being given is an opportunity to silence people who criticize Israel’s extermination of the inhabitants of Canaan. They should listen carefully to Adoni-bezek. The judgment of the inhabitants of Canaan is righteous and deserved.

‏ Judges 1:6-7

Repaid

That Judah and Simeon are not completely in the way of God and do not act according to His thoughts is also evident from the way they treat Adoni-bezek. They do something God has not commanded them to do. Joshua never did anything similar with the kings of Canaan. It is an act of human retribution. Nowhere in the Old Testament is there a command from God to His people to torture their enemies. Indeed, they should not feel sorry for them and should kill them without pardon, but cruel treatment is not prescribed. What the people do here does not speak in their favor.

What Adoni-bezek says about it is another matter. Adoni-bezek acted in this way to increase his power and fame. God uses the failure of Judah and Simeon to repay him. It pleads for him that in the treatment he undergoes he sees the righteous punishment of God. He acknowledges that this judgment rightly affects him. As he has done, so is he repaid.

In his case the word is fulfilled: “For whatever a man sows, this he will also reap” (Gal 6:7b). In several histories in the Bible we come across the truth of this word. And how often have we experienced this ourselves? Man meets what he does.

Adoni-bezek’s answer to the punishment he is being given is an opportunity to silence people who criticize Israel’s extermination of the inhabitants of Canaan. They should listen carefully to Adoni-bezek. The judgment of the inhabitants of Canaan is righteous and deserved.