Judah Had Fought Against Jerusalem - Judges 1:8

In the book of Judges we learned how the king of the Canaanites, “Adonibezek fled” from the tribe of Judah, “and they pursued after him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes. And Adonibezek said, Threescore and ten kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered their meat under my table: as I have done, so God has requited me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died”, and in chapter one and verse eight of Judges, we learn how “the children of Judah had fought against Jerusalem” where we read,

Now 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.

The verse reads, “Now the children of Judah had fought against Jerusalem, and had taken it, …” The writer began with the words, “now the children of Judah” which means “it was so that 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” “had fought against Jerusalem” or “battled and waged war in opposition to Jerusalem whose name means ‘teaching of peace’ and is the chief city of Palestine and capital of the united kingdom and the nation of Judah after the split”, “and had taken it” which means “and overtook, possessed, seized and occupied it, Jerusalem”. The writer shared how the offspring belonging to “Judah” waged war in opposition to the city of “Jerusalem”, and they seized the city. 

The verse continues, “… and smitten it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire.” The writer added the words, “and smitten it” which means “and struck, beat and killed it, Jerusalem” “with the edge of the sword” or “by the use of a sharpened weapon, tool or implement of war”, “and set the city on fire” or “and intentionally burnt the dwelling place with fiery fire”. The writer shared how the people of Judah intentionally burnt the dwelling place of “Jerusalem” with fiery fire.

When we consider the words in this verse, we discover how the tribe of “Judah” waged war and battle in opposition to the city of “Jerusalem”, and after capturing the city, they burnt the city with fiery fire. This is how the tribe of “Judah” came to rule and reign over “Jerusalem” as they beat, hit and struck the occupants of the city until they possessed the territory there. God owns everything, (See Psalm 24:1) and He gave His best gift, His Son Jesus, to die on the cross for the sins of all mankind and to be raised from the dead after three days. When we put our faith and trust in Him as our personal “Savior and Lord”, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and equip us with His Holy Spirit who will guide us into the truth and help us live in a manner that is pleasing to Him. (See John 3:16; 16:13; Acts 1:8; Revelation 4:11)

Next time we learn how, “the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites, that dwelt in the mountain”, 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".