Not all the parcels of land were equal in size or importance. Dan received a great lot…smallish but it had ocean frontage…why did they leave it?
Simeon became the smallest of all the tribes of Israel, and we see here that their land allotment was very small, and completely surrounded by Judah. You might remember from the blog post on Deuteronomy 33 that Simeon doesn’t receive a blessing from Moses. Maybe this is a glimpse of what life looks like when it’s not blessed by the Lord.
I took a quick look into a Bible app, and discovered that the town named “Dan” was far north of the land the Danites were to conquer and live in. They were unable to defeat the Philistines and Caananites who lived in the fertile plains along the Mediterranean Sea. They tried to settle there, but only possessed part of the land so a bunch of them wandered up north and claimed a town and area that appears to have been in East Manasseh’s territory. Did they give up too soon? I wonder what the world would look like today if they had remained faithful? Looking at this event as a metaphor for our Christian lives; Is this what happens when we decide that some sinful parts of our lives are simply too difficult to defeat? Do we simply “move on” and leave strongholds in some areas of our life? I really doubt that this is what God wanted from Dan. I would speculate that He wanted them to fast and pray and ask Him to go before them, and rout the enemy. 21:44 says that “None of their enemies could stand against them, The Lord helped them conquer all their enemies” There is no such thing as an enemy too strong for God. Their failure isn’t defined by failing to remove the Caananites, it’s the failure to trust completely in God.
Is there any area in your life that you have been trying to gain victory over, but you can’t seem to conquer it? Maybe a habit, a thought pattern or a character trait or an addiction? Don’t quit and move on like Dan did. Go back to the Lord and “remind” Him that He promised victory to His people, who are faithful to be obedient to Him. And then do whatever He tells you to do, no matter how insignificant or unrelated it seems.
You can, and you will be victorious! God wants you to win this battle with sin in your life, and He will fight for you and alongside you in order to see it removed. Part of winning is knowing that success only comes from a right relationship with Jesus!
Faithfully,
PR