Judges 17: The Tribes
Friday, June 21, 2024
The link below
will take us to a map of the Middle East at the time of the twelve tribes. A number of sites might provide similar information, or we might find solid information in a good study Bible map; but no matter the resource, we have an opportunity today to explore our own tribal instincts.
http://www.drshirley.org/geog/geog08.html
It is interesting to see where these families of Jacob settled when they returned from Egypt to cross the Jordan into their promised land. The Levites, being priests, have no territory; they have 48 cities designated to them. Joseph’s family has two tribes: Manasseh and Ephraim for his two sons. The territory each clan is promised is based on the fertility of the land itself so large parcels are less fertile than the smaller ones. Dan, we see, was never able to occupy the land his tribe was promised in the western portion of the region, so his followers scouted out a suitable city and took it by force. Some say that this laid a foundation for this tribe’s failure in Judeo-Christian history; however, one thing we can notice is this: even when Israel has finished her desert wanderings and has come home to her promise, she struggles within. She yearns for a king who will bring justice and mercy and true peace to her existence. So might we also struggle once we have passed through a time of trial. So might we also come home from the desert to struggle when we settle into our promise.
From the HARPERCOLLINS BIBLE COMMENTARY, page 236. “The concluding chapters of Judges sound a recurrent theme, ‘In those days there was no king in Israel’ (17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25) . . . ‘All the people did what was right in their own eyes’. Neither judges nor deliverers appear in the concluding stories and, significantly, the threat to Israel is no longer external but internal. Even when no foreign oppressor appears on the horizon, conditions do not improve, for Israel, left to its sinful ways, pursues a course that threatens its political and religious survival”.
Today we see that some of Jacob’s clan have yet to find their places in the promise alongside their brothers and sisters. And we also see what action they take to rectify this situation. We might ask ourselves what we would do in their place.
Tomorrow, Judges 17, reward in due season.
Mays, James L., ed. HARPERCOLLINS BIBLE COMMENTARY. New York, New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1988. 236. Print.
Adapted from a reflection written on April 16, 2009.
Image from: http://www.drshirley.org/geog/geog08.html
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