Tag: dan

Judges 18: Danites! Weak to the Strong, Merciless to the Weak

If you want to see the true measure of a person, watch how that person treats the weak, inferiors, or someone who can do absolutely no good. Well, let’s see what happens to one of the Israel tribes in times of Judges. 

Summary of Judges 18

The Danites (one of the twelve tribes of Israel) were seeking an inheritance because they were not able to drive out the Canaanites in the land allotted to them by Joshua. As a result, they were wandering within and around the center area of the Canaan region. They sent five men to scout out land that would be easy for them to conquer. During their scout, they ran into Micah’s house and met the Levite that Micah hired and consecrated (Judges 17). The five Danite spies asked Micah to inquire of the LORD, and Micah “confirmed” that their quest would succeed. 

Those five spies travelled all the way up to the north and spotted a peaceful land and peaceful people residing in Laish. The five spies came back to lead the entire tribe to attack Laish. On their way, they stopped by Micah’s house to rob him of the idols, ephod and the Levite, the priest. The Levite was elated to be a priest for the tribe. The Danites attacked and killed all the inhabitants of Laish and settled there. 

Weak to the Strong

When Joshua, under the guidance of the LORD, allotted the Canaan land to the twelve tribes, a sizable portion was given to the Dan tribe. The Dan tribe was second only to the Judah tribe in population size. However, they were very unsuccessful in inheriting the allotted land as they were pushed back and humiliated by the Amorites (Judges 1:34). As a result, they were still seeking an inheritance for them to settle (Judges 18:1). Despite their size, they were not able to wield their power proportionally. 

Spotted Easy Land

Instead of seeking the land the LORD God allotted, the Dan tribe decided to go for the land in accordance to their standards. The five spies spotte land in Laish, good in their eyes, spacious and abundant (Judges 18:9-10). These criteria in themselves are not necessarily bad. However, when God gave a clear message through Joshua about the land inheritance, it was not a good example to deviate to seek the land according to their standard. 

Strong to the Weak

After spotting the land, Laish, to conquer, the Danites mobilized 600 men. On their way to Laish, located in the very north of the Canaan region, they stopped by Micah’s house to steal the graven, molten image, ephods, and other household idols. Also, the Levite was recruited, and they together walked away as if nothing had happened. 

Micah’s household and the neighbors near Micah’s house assembled to pursue the Danites. However, after being threatened by the Danites, who had a stronger army, Micah’s group had to turn and go back.

A few things to pinpoint from the event in which the Danites stole a set of idols from Micah’s household. . 

First, this would be the first incident when the Danites wielded their power and succeeded. A great news that they were exercising their power… but to the weaker group in order to steal. Not a great example!

Second, note the widespread influence of idol worship. It was not just Micah’s household that came to pursue the Danites when they lost their idols, but also the men who were near Micah’s house (Judges 18:22). This indicated that the worship practice around the graven, molten image had indeed has a significant influence across the Israelite society. 

Third, the formation of evil versus evil. Back when Joshua was leading the Israelites, it was clear that Joshua’s army was on the side of the LORD God. Here in Judges 18, neither the Danites, nor the Micah’s households were on the side of the LORD, despite their nominal status as the people of God. In fact, their conflict was between two evils – I am not even sure which one would be considered more evil. 

Fourth, vanity over vanity. They were fighting over a set of worthless idols. Without God, they, both the Micah household and the Danites, pursued and risked their lives for something utterly worthless. A great lesson for us as well. Absent God, we will be like them chasing and fighting over worthless idols. 

Then… Merciless to the Weak

After the Danites stole the idols and the priest from the Micah’s household, they totally destroyed the people of Laish and rebuilt the city to live in it (Judges 18:27-28). Then, they set up for themselves the graven image. 

We see an escalation of Dan’s sinful activities in two fronts. 

On the one front, the Danites’ exercise of their power became harsher. Against Micah’s household, the Danites, as a strong party, exercised their power to steal properties from MIchah’s household. Against the people of Laish, they, as a strong party, were merciless to the weak, peaceful inhabitants of Laish. What a contrast to the situation where they could not do anything against the Amorites (Judges 1:34)!

On the other front, the Danites “upgraded” their idol worship system by setting up for themselves the graven image (Judges 18:30-31).

Conclusion

When God was absent in the heart of the Israelites, we see them exercising their might however they want to oppress the weak. Without God, without the absolute standard, people seek worthless idols, falling astray. Let us learn from their mistakes and guard our hearts.

Judges 18 was a disturbing story. Sad news is that the level of shock becomes even greater in the next three chapters of Judges.

Joshua 18-19: Land Division to the Rest; Judah vs. Dan

Summary

The whole congregation of Israel assembled at Shiloh. At that place, Joshua urged the rest of the tribes to proactively take possession of the land which the LORD the God had given to them. To facilitate this process, Joshua commanded the remaining seven tribes to send three men from each tribe to survey the land for the lot. After the land survey, they came back and Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the presence of the LORD. The rest of the land was divided and given to the remaining seven tribes (Benjamine, Simeon, Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, Naphthali, and Dan).

Before the LORD

Casting lots may be considered a strange way to discern how the land would be distributed to each tribe. However, there is a key phrase that was continually repeated in these two chapters, “before the LORD” (Joshua 18:6, 18:8, 18:10, and 19:51). The LORD commanded Joshua to distribute the land by lot, and Joshua and Eleazar the priest did this before the presence of the LORD. Casting lot in itself may not be a valid method, but it being conducted before the presence of the LORD was the most important aspect. 

Reset by Joshua: Bite-sized Tasks

Chapter 18 goes in tandem with Chapter 13. Back in Chapter 13, the LORD reminded Joshua of the remaining land that needed to be possessed and of the promise that the LORD had made that He would drive out the inhabitants (Joshua 13:6). In Chapter 18, Joshua himself urged the remaining seven tribes to enter to take possession and gave them a concrete mission – to select three men from each tribe to survey the land and report back to him. 

A modicum of wise leadership by Joshua can be noted here. Perhaps, the seven tribes were afraid and were lost in the grand purpose of conquering the vast land area, or the thought of possessing a remaining large size land paralyzed their next actions. Therefore, Joshua broke down the task for them. First, select three men from each tribe. Second, dispatch those selected men to survey the land. Third, divide the remaining land into seven parts. By taking a few small steps, Joshua gave a digestible concrete mission for the tribes to the next step. By leading them to see and survey the land themselves, Joshua made the task more concrete for the remaining tribes. By dividing the whole land into seven areas, Joshua directed them to engage in a divide and conquer strategy to reduce their mental burden and facilitate their action. 

The order of Lot Allotment

During the bible study, there was a question about how the lot order was determined. Although not explicitly stated in the text, upon some pondering, we found that the allotment order was roughly the reverse of the birth order of the seven remaining tribes – the only exception was Simeon. 

Birth order for the remaining tribesSimeon, Dan, Napthali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin
Allotment order for the remaining tribesBenjamin, Simeon, Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and Dan

Benjamin was the youngest, and his tribe received the first allotment located in between Ephraim and Judah. Simeon, although he was the oldest of the seven, received next probably because Simeon tribe was the fewest in numbers of all tribes.

Although the order may not be of significant importance, if we assume that the youngest roughly equates to the weakest, this may show that God’s intricate care of the weak first. 

Meek Leadership: Judah and Simeon 

*Side note: Biblical definition of meekness is “power under control.” 

Let’s take a closer look at the inheritance given to Simeon (Joshua 19:1-9). Inheritance given to the Simeon tribe stood out because unlike other six tribes, Simeon received thirteen cities within the Judah’s inheritance. Although the explicit reason was that Judah inheritance was more than they needed, some things may have been ongoing behind the scene. 

First, we may wonder why Simeon was not given the land for themselves on the northern territory. Was it possible that the Simeon tribe was not liked by the others? The leadership in the Simeon tribe committed a huge sin at Shittim (Numbers 25), and as a result, many people, probably those in the Simeon tribe, died, reducing their size significantly. It was possible that the Simeon tribe was not looked upon favorably by the other tribes due to this incident and the three dispatched men were not able to do a proper survey of the land. 

Second, perhaps, Simeon, having nowhere to settle, Judah took them in and voluntarily provided 13 cities. In Judges 1:3, we also see that Judah helped Simeon to fight together against the Canaanite and the Perizzites, defeating 10,000 men at Bezek to claim the territory allotted to Simeon. Judah was not required to help Simeon to claim his lot. However, from this episode, we see that not only Judah voluntarily provided 13 cities for Simeon, but also helped the Simeon tribe (about 22,000 men compared to 76,500 men in Judah) to claim the allotted territory. 

The strongest tribe helped the weakest tribe and fought alongside with them to claim the allotted land. This is a meek leadership – using power appropriately to serve the weak. 

Colossal Failure: Dan Tribe

Varying degrees of “success” across each tribe was pronounced. Most of them were not able to drive out 100% of the inhabitants in their allotted land. Even Judah was not able to drive out Jebusites and they remained in Jerusalem until King David. However, the contrast between Judah and Dan drew our attention. 

The Dan tribe was a prime example of a colossal failure in inheriting the land. Although the size of the Dan tribe was second only to that of the Judah Tribe (64,400 to 76,500), they were humiliated by the Amorites (Judge 1:34). The Amorites were determined to stay in the land allotted to the Dan tribe, and Dan tribe was driven out, instead of driving out the inhabitants. As a result, the Dan tribe had to meander toward the very north of the Canaan region until they settled in Leshem, which was named Dan (Joshua 19:47).

What a difference between Judah and Dan!

Conclusions

Joshua continued to demonstrate his leadership over the seven tribes who needed a nudge to take action to take possession of the land. Most importantly, however, Joshua submitted before the presence of the LORD when he cast lots for the land inheritance. 

We see that the way in which the land was inherited to each tribe varied greatly. Judah not only settled well, but also used its strength to help Simeon to settle. Dan, despite having the size, was overpowered by the Amorites and was pushed out of its land to settle in the very north of Canaan area. 

The contrast between Judah and Dan gives us something to think about claiming the promise of God.