Fighting Canaanites in the Mountain - Judges 1:9

In the book of Judges we learned how, “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”, and in chapter one and verse nine of Judges, we learn how “the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites, that dwelt in the mountain” where we read,

And afterward the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites, 

that dwelt in the mountain, and in the south, and in the valley.

The verse reads, “And afterward the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites, …” The writer began with the words, “and afterward” which means “and following the time when the offspring of Judah fought against Jerusalem” “the children of Judah” or “the offspring and progeny belonging to Judah whose name means ‘praised’ and was the fourth son of Jacob by Leah and the male progenitor of the tribe of Judah” “went down to fight against the Canaanites” which means “marched and descended to wage war and battle in opposition to the Canaanites whose name means ‘lowland’ and were the descendants or inhabitants of Canaan”. The writer shared how following the time the “tribe of Judah” did battle in opposition to “Jerusalem”, they waged war with the “Canaanites” in the following place.

The verse goes on to say, “… that dwelt in the mountain, and in the south, and in the valley.” The writer continued with the words, “that dwelt in the mountain” which means “who lived and abided within the rising above the plain”, “and in the south” or “and within the southern direction or Negev”, “and in the valley” or “and within the vale or lowland”. The writer shared how the people of  “Judah” waged war in opposition to the “Canaanites” within the rising above the plain, within the southern direction and within the vale.

When we meditate upon the words in this verse, we see how “Judah” continued to wage war against the “Canaanites” that were located within the promise land. Joshua told them there was territory to possess, (See Joshua 15), and they battled those living within the hill country, in the Negev and in the western foothills”. God gave these territories to the people of Judah even as He promised, and because He loves the people of Israel, they were blessed. God loves us as well, and He proved His love to us when He sent His Son Jesus into the world to die on the cross for the sins of all mankind and to be raised from the grave after three days. When we surrender our lives to Him as our “Savior and Lord”, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and put His Holy Spirit within us to guide us into all truth and to help us conquer every area of need that exists within our lives. (See Philippians 4:19)

Next time we learn how, “Judah went against the Canaanites that dwelt in Hebron”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".