V. During the government of the Judges, God was in a more especial manner Israel's king, so Samuel tells them when they were resolved to throw off this form of government, 1 Sam. 12. 12. God would try what his own law and the constitutions of that would do to keep them in order, and it proved that when there was no king in Israel, every man did that which was right in his own eyes; he therefore, toward the latter end of this time, made the government of the judges more constant and universal than it was at first, and at length gave them David, a king after his own heart; then, and not till then, Israel began to flourish; which should make us very thankful for magistrates both supreme and subordinate, for they are ministers of God unto us for good. Four of the Judges of Israel are here canonized, Heb. 11. 32. Gideon, Barak, Samson, and Jephthah. The learned Bishop Patrick thinks the prophet Samuel was the penman of this Book.
JUDGES, I.
CHAP. I.
This chapter gives us a particular account of what sort of progress the several tribes of Israel made in the reducing of Canaan after the death of Joshua. He did (as we say) break the neck of that great work, and put it into such a posture, that they might easily have perfected it in due time, if they had not been wanting to themselves; what they did in order hereunto, and wherein they come short, we are here told. I. The united tribes of Judah and Simeon did bravely. 1. God appointed Judah to begin, v. 1, 2. 2. Judah took Simeon to act in conjunction with him, v. 3. 3. They succeeded in their enterprises against Bezek, (v. 4. 7.) Jerusalem, (v. 8.) Hebron and Debir, (v. 9..15.) Hormah, Gaza, and other places, v. 17, 19. 4. Yet where there were chariots of iron, their hearts failed them, v. 19. Mention is made of the Kenites settling among them, v. 16. II. The other tribes, in comparison with these, acted a cowardly part. 1. Benjamin failed, v. 21. 2. The house of Joseph did well against Beth-el, (v. 22. 26.) but in other places did not improve their advantages, nor Manasseh, (v. 27. 28.) nor Ephraim, v. 29. 3. Zebulun spared the Canaanites, v. 30. 4. Ashur truckled worse than any of them to the Canaanites, v. 31, 32. 5. Naphtali was kept out of the full possession of several of his cities, v. 33. 6. Dan was straitened by the Amorites, v. 34. No account is given of Issachar, nor of the two tribes and a half on the other side Jordan.
1.NOW, after the death of Joshua, it came to pass, that the children of Israel asked the Lord, saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight against them? 2. And the Lord said, Judah shall go up: behold, I have delivered the land into his hand. 3. And Judah said unto Simeon his brother, Come up with me into my lot, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise will go up with thee into thy lot. So Simeon went with him. 4. And Judah went up; and the Lord delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand: and they slew of them in Bezek ten thousand men. 5. And they found Adoni-bezek in Bezek; and they fought against him, and they slew the Canaanites and the Perizzites. 6. But Adoni-bezek fled: and they pursued after him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes. 7. And Adoni-bezek said, threescore and ten kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered their meat under my table: as I have done, so God hath requited me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died. 8. Now the children of Judah had fought against Jerusalem, and had taken it, and smitten it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire.
Here,
I. The children of Israel consult the oracle of God for direction, which of all the tribes should first attempt to clear their country of the Canaanites, and to animate and encourage the rest. It was after the death of Joshua: while he lived, he directed them, and all the tribes were obedient to him; but when he died, he left no successor in the same authority that he had had: but the people must consult the breast-plate of judgment, and thence receive the word of command; for God himself, as he was their King, so he was the Lord of their hosts. The question they ask is, Who shall go up first? v. 1. By this time, we may suppose, they were so multiplied, that the places they were in possession of, began to be too strait for them, and they must thrust out the enemy to make room: now they inquire, who should first take up arms. Whether each tribe was ambitious of being first, and so strove for the honour of it, or whether each was afraid of being first, and so strove to decline it, does not appear; but by common consent the matter was referred to God himself, who is the fittest both to dispose of honours, and to cut out work.
II. God appointed that Judah should go up first, and promised him success; (v. 2.) "I have delivered the laid into his hand to be possessed, and therefore will deliver the enemy into his hand, that keeps him out of possession, to be destroyed." And why must Judah be first in this undertaking? 1. Judah was the most numerous and powerful tribe, and therefore let Judah venture first. Note, God appoints service according to the strength he has given. Those that are most able, from them most work is expected. 2. Judah was first in dignity, and therefore must be first in duty. He it is, whom his brethren must praise, and therefore he it is, who must lead in perilous services. Let the burthen of honour and the burthen of work go together. 3. Judah was first served; the lot came up for Judah first, and therefore Judah must first fight. 4. Judah was the tribe out of which our Lord was to spring: so that in Judah, Christ, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, went before them. Christ engaged the powers of darkness first, and foiled them, which animates us for our conflicts; and it is in him that we are more than conquerors. Observe, The service and the success are put together: "Judah shall go up, let him do his part, and then he shall find, I have delivered the land into his hand." His service will not avail unless God give the success: but God will not give the success, unless he vigorously apply himself to the service.
III. Judah hereupon prepares to go up, but courts his brother and neighbour the tribe of Simeon (the lot of which tribe fell within that of Judah, and was assigned out of it) to join forces with him, v. 3. Ob-
