At the beginning of the book of Judges we see the twelve tribes of Israel gearing up to complete the conquest of the land. Thus far Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have already received their inheritance on the Eastern side of the Jordan River and the other tribes must finish fighting for their territorial allotments. Although Joshua had led victorious battles against Canaanite strongholds, there were still many enemies in the land needing to be cleared out.

Joshua 13:1 “Now Joshua was old, advanced in years. And the Lord said to him: “You are old, advanced in years, and there remains very much land yet to be possessed.”

History records an extremely tumultuous time around 1200BC where Egypt and Canaan were destroyed by a new and unknown group of people. Secular scholars, eager to deny the truth of God’s word, call this mysterious race the “sea peoples,” but we know this was none other than the Exodus from Egypt and conquest of Canaan by the people of ISRAEL. Scholars will do anything to hide from and deny God’s clear revelation.

Egypt never wanted to admit they were routed by a bunch of slaves and a foreign God. They preferred to claim that the destructions from the plagues were due to an invasion by mighty armies who had arrived from the sea.

The Rewards of the Slothful

Unfortunately when Joshua died, most of Israel’s tribes were quite slothful in going after their inheritance. One recurring excuse was that the Canaanites had “chariots of iron.”

Joshua had told the fearful tribes that they had the power to win against the enemy, despite the enemy’s technological advantage in having iron chariots. Sadly even Judah, the leader and boldest tribe, lost faith when confronted by this iron equipment. When a leader stumbles, those who follow are also led into sin. Judah’s failure to fully clear his territory of enemies caused a chain reaction in which the other tribes also refused to fully clear out their lands. In the New Testament we see how when Peter lost faith and returned to his secular employment fishing, instead of preaching the gospel, the rest of the disciples did likewise until Jesus intervened.

Zechariah 13:7 “strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered.”

After seeing Judah lose faith in achieving a full victory, the other tribes lost heart also.

Looking closer it seems the “chariots of iron” was really just an exaggeration. This was not even the iron age yet and it was only hundreds of years later when king David would help usher in iron technology for Israel (which he learned from the Philistines). But as of this story the only iron available was from meteors and extremely rare. The “iron chariots” were more of a psychological warfare tactic.  The Canaanites may have used some iron components in the wheels and then spread the rumor that their chariots were indestructible. The chariot still would have been mostly made of wood however. If Israel had spent time thinking rather than sitting in fear, they could have came up with new tactics to counter these improved chariots.

The invasion of Canaan was time-sensitive. Israel began with the element of surprise. Unfortunately half of the tribes were too slothful and only attempted to conquer partial portions of their inheritance while leaving plenty of enemies when it was inconvenient to deal with them. Several of the tribes made a deal with the Canaanites to tolerate their presence so long as regular tribute was paid. This compromised their instructions from God which was to exterminate all of the Canaanites and seize all of their territory.  The delay also meant the Israelites no longer had divine assistance. The angel in Judges 2 reveals that God will not longer assist Israel in taking more land since they were too slow in getting the job done due to fear and unwillingness. God does not take kindly to slowness:

Due to allowing themselves to be frozen in fear, the Israelites missed their opportunity for divine assistance in battle. This is the same mistake the previous generation has made in the wilderness with Moses. Ten of the 12 scouts had discouraged the people with reports that Canaan was an impossible to conquer hellscape and not a true promised land.

Just like these tribes, we often make the mistake in thinking a prophecy or promise from God is some kind of entitlement that must come true. Prophecy is often about speaking God’s will into being, not necessarily about predicting the future. God’s promise will often fail to come true if we do not put consistent faith and effort behind it. The promised land was given to Israel as an inheritance but they still had to fight for it to make the promise come true. Why do we feel we are any different, as if the promise should come true on its own for us without us having to fight valiantly for it to make it happen?

Judah and Simeon’s Partnership

Judah was the first one God called to war. Judah was the largest tribe and the natural leader of the 12 tribes. Judah’s camp was on the East; (the East symbolizes firsts and beginnings).

Judges 1:3 So Judah said to Simeon his brother, “Come up with me to my allotted territory, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I will likewise go with you to your allotted territory.” And Simeon went with him.

The territorial lots that fell to Judah and Simeon are interesting in that Judah’s territory completely surrounded and engulfed Simeon’s portion.

Why would this be?

We have to look back to Jacob’s prophecy over his twelve sons, given in Genesis 49. Simeon and Levi are given a hostile word from their father that their descendants are to be “scattered in Israel.” Fortunately God had a way of turning things around and the curse became more of a blessing in the end. In Levi’s case the tribe became “scattered” as the priestly class who would live all throughout Israel as God’s teachers and ministers rather than living in a territory of their own. God turned Levi’s scattering into a reward rather than a punishment.

The tribe of Simeon’s case was similar to Levi’s. Being cursed also with a destiny to be scattered in Israel, the tribe of Simeon was one of the first to disappear from record. This ‘disappearance’ however was actually a complete assimilation to become part of the tribe of JUDAH, the preeminent tribe in Israel. The only tribe which maintained its existence after the tribes were captured and exiled to Assyria and Babylon. Today we speak or “Jewish” people, the name of which is derived from Judah. By ceasing to exist as a separate identity, those in Simeon became part of the most powerful tribe and the only one to survive through history. Just as Christ taught “a seed must first die and be buried before it can live and grow” those in Simeon illustrate this principle perfectly.

At this point in the story Simeon has not been assimilated yet, but signs of cooperation are already there. In preparing for battle the leaders of Judah realized something. If their tribe fought together alongside the tribe of Simeon, their forces would be doubled against the enemy. Each would help each other in clearing out territory for each other. Whereas fighting individually would result in large losses, fighting together paved the way for a decisive victory over the enemy. One only needs to look at history’s greatest general. Napoleon, would only engage in battle if he had a decisive numeric advantage in troops. This allowed for a quick victory while minimizing his own losses in men. This is the efficient way of fighting.

The cooperation between Judah and Simeon for battle allowed them to be victorious. These two tribes led the way in the conquest of Canaan, showcasing a bold example for the rest to follow.

The Power of Unity

One of the defining features of Christ’s teachings is a focus on unity of the brethren. Division will come because of the gospel but this should be external relationships, not division of believers. Christ taught if your brother has a grief against you, don’t even bother offering to God until you make it right and reconcile with that person – that’s how serious it is. In other places Christ teaches that to be merely angry with your brother is the same sin as murder and to call your brother a “fool” makes you in danger of hell fire. One of Christ’s final prayers in John 17 was for the disciples to be one just as Christ and the Father are one. In the days of the early church, Christian unity was the #1 topic the apostles defended. The New Testament books are full of warning against sects and divisions which would attempt to fracture the faith.

So why is unity so important? We have to look at the angelic realm.

Just as Judah and Simeon achieved victory by cooperating, when you have a true friendship with someone your angels both assist each other in battles. Their angels help your battles and yours rush to help in theirs. The closer the friendship the stronger the helping connection. Some of us have let important friendships become soured over mere words or minor slights. Or let them slip away due to neglect. It's time to re-look at the relationships we devalued and what we let drift away which could be salvaged and repaired. The same principle of angelic reciprocity applies to large groups and this is why Satan's main goal is to cause division within churches and nations. It blocks the angels from assisting each other. We allowed ourselves to become so polarized due to the excitement of the battle but there are no winners in a civil war. Let's survey our lives and look for these wounds and ruptures, reconnecting to the heart of forgiveness rather than excuses and self-righteousness. It is not always possible to be at peace with everyone but like Paul says "as much as is possible" we must do our best. God says the most important relationship to repair is between Christians and Jews and when these two people groups can heal and love one another, this will result in the final defeat of satan and darkness on earth and the establishment of Christ's direct rule over the earth.

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