Take Hold of All God Has for You

 –   A good start does not guarantee a great finish.  How you finish is even more important than how you start.

Judges 1:3 (NIV)
³  Then the men of Judah said to the Simeonites their brothers, “Come up with us into the territory allotted to us, to fight against the Canaanites. We in turn will go with you into yours.” So the Simeonites went with them.

On verse 3:  The tribe of Judah decides to partner with the tribe of Simeon in pursuing the land that God had allotted to them.  What can we learn from this?  It is important whom you decide to partner with as you seek to take possession of all that God has for you.

Judges 1:4-7 (NIV)
⁴  When Judah attacked, the LORD gave the Canaanites and Perizzites into their hands and they struck down ten thousand men at Bezek.
⁵  It was there that they found Adoni-Bezek and fought against him, putting to rout the Canaanites and Perizzites.
⁶  Adoni-Bezek fled, but they chased him and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes.
⁷  Then Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have picked up scraps under my table. Now God has paid me back for what I did to them.” They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.

On verses 4-7:  As part of defeating the Canaanites and Perizzites at Berek, Judah takes a captive a ruler called Adoni-Bezek, which may mean “Prince of Bezek”.  Apparently it was customary that when a ruler was taken captive back then, that ruler’s captors would cut off that ruler’s thumbs and big toes, possibly to prevent that ruler from holding a weapon or standing easily on his own.  When the tribe of Judah does that to Adoni-Bezek, Adoni-Bezek sees that as divine retribution against him for the way he treated 70 other kings in the past.

What can we learn from this?  No matter how powerful someone may become in their lifetime, God always has the final say and is the only truly sovereign and powerful one.

Judges 1:8-11 (NIV)
⁸  The men of Judah attacked Jerusalem also and took it. They put the city to the sword and set it on fire.
⁹  After that, the men of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites living in the hill country, the Negev and the western foothills.
¹⁰  They advanced against the Canaanites living in Hebron (formerly called Kiriath Arba) and defeated Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai.
¹¹  From there they advanced against the people living in Debir (formerly called Kiriath Sepher).

On verses 8-11:  More conquests by the tribe of Judah.

Judges 1:12-15 (NIV)
¹²  And Caleb said, “I will give my daughter Acsah in marriage to the man who attacks and captures Kiriath Sepher.”
¹³  Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it; so Caleb gave his daughter Acsah to him in marriage.
¹⁴  One day when she came to Othniel, she urged him to ask her father for a field. When she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What can I do for you?”
¹⁵  She replied, “Do me a special favor. Since you have given me land in the Negev, give me also springs of water.” Then Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs.

On verses 12-15:  In response to Caleb’s open challenge, Caleb’s nephew Othniel conquers the region of Kiriath Sepher and, as promised, Caleb gives to Othniel his daughter Acsah, who must have been quite a prize.  Like her father before her, Acsah was not afraid to boldly ask for what she wanted, at first requesting that her father give her land and then later asking for springs.

What can we learn from this?
–   Blessed are the proactive, the ones who are not afraid to ask for what they need and grab hold of it by faith, rather than always passively waiting for someone to give it to them.
–   Just as land needs to be well irrigated with water, so the lives God has given us need to be watered well with the Holy Spirit (see John 4:10 and 7:38 as well as Revelation 7:17).