Judges 1:22-26 – Compromises will create loopholes in our life

Like Judah, the house of Joseph from the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh began to clear the Canaanites out of their possession. Their first target was Bethel which was previously known as Luz. Their success was said to be accomplished with the help of the Lord. What they did first was to spy out the land. The spies first spotted a man coming out of the city and requested that he showed them the entrance to the city. What they did was to get the man to show them how the entrance to the city was structured. Why? Because some entrances built during those times could be more complex in the configuration. Without prior knowledge of the place, their attempt to capture it would be made difficult and might result in needless death to their force. The spies promised kind treatment to the man whom they sought information from if he would give them what they requested. He co-operated and must have diagrammed the entrance to show the spies how to move about. So, with the information, they were able to strike that city and capture it. As promised, they then let the informant and his family go. In so doing the house of Joseph did not fully comply with the Lord’s instruction.  

Unlike Rahab in the book of Joshua, this informant did not have the same fear for God or the people of Israel. Though he and his family were spared, they did not want to join the house of Joseph. They declined the kindness shown to them and instead went to the land of the Hittites and called the place Luz, the previous name of Bethel. This suggests the intention of that man. In reality, he was indirectly resisting the mission of the tribe of Joseph. Here’s one lesson we can learn from this incidence, i.e. we must always obey the Lord fully. To compromise with that informant was not fully obeying the Lord who told them to destroy the inhabitants of the land. To let that man and his family free was like not eradicating cancerous cells within one’s body. Like aberrant cells, they would certainly come back and trouble them. It underscores for us the need to deal ruthlessly with what could hinder our progress in the Lord. We mustn’t be kind to the enemy of our soul. Anything that needs to go must go. Or else, we will have to live with the consequence of our indecision. Compromise will always bring undesirable consequence!