Judges 1:16-21 –Starting well is needful but finishing well is better

Judges 1:16 refers to Kenite, the father-in-law of Moses. His descendants called the Kenites were actually a group of Midianites who were skilful in metal works. Here we are told that they left the city of palms, which is Jericho. And they went to live with the sons of Judah in the south of Arad which was in the wilderness of Judah. How did the Kenites become involved in the life of the people of Israel? In numbers 10:29-31, we see Moses persuading Hobab, his brother-in-law, to come with him. He was reluctant at the beginning, but after much persuasion, he finally relented and went with Moses. This accounts for why the descendants of Kenite are being alluded to here. The description of all these indicates to us that the tribe of Judah’s campaign to take the Negev was largely successful. Then we are told that the Canaanites living in the city of Zephath was also utterly destroyed by the Judah-Simeon coalition. The city was renamed Hormah meaning destruction and given to the tribe of Simeon. Verse 17 shows us the conquest of Philistine cities such as Gaza, Ashkelon and Ekron and the surrounding territory. These were located in the coastal region of the Mediterranean. These areas, however, only remained in the hand of the Israelites for a short duration.

Verses 19-21 show glimpses of the initial sign of trouble. The coalition could not drive out the inhabitants in the lowland because of their iron chariots. Although we are told that Yahweh was with them yet they could not drive out the inhabitants there. Why? Let it be known that their failure was not a sign of God’s inability but their failure to seize the advantage of the success they already had in the lowland. Although Caleb was largely successful in destroying the three sons of Anak out of Hebron, Jerusalem was not properly handled. Verse 21 suggests that the tribe of Benjamin living in the vicinity of Jerusalem did not make the effort to drive out the Jebusites. Instead, they allowed them to remain in the city to live among them in Jerusalem. This would come back to haunt and trouble them.

In the Christian journey, we cannot afford to leave things half done or undone. If we are to find ultimate success, we must not only follow-up with initial victory, but we must also follow-through till victory is sealed. There is a tendency for us to take a break and rest a while when victory seems to have been gained. The feeling that we can afford a little rest and complete the task later often do us in. The little rest soon develops into procrastination. Before long, we find ourselves so comfortable that it becomes hard to overcome the inertia that had been developed due to passivity. It always takes a greater effort to overcome the initial inertia. But once the inertia had been overcome and we don’t continue, we soon find everything grinding to a halt. By then it would take a much greater effort to overcome the apathy. Let us not only start well in our journey with God but let us also aim to end well with Him. We have a part to play! Let’s keep fighting the good fight!