Judges 1:11

Judges 1:11 says, And from thence he went against the inhabitants of Debir: and the name of Debir before was Kirjathsepher:  This is still speaking of the tribe of Judah in their battle against the people of Canaan.  Verse twelve states, And Caleb said, He that smiteth Kirjathsepher, and taketh it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife.  We have the account of Caleb offering his daughter as a wife to any man who defeated Kirjathsepher.  This seems to be a retelling of events mentioned chapter fifteen of the book of Joshua.  It may be mentioned again here because this was a part of the land of Canaan that was to be defeated, and it had already been done so by Otheniel, Caleb's now son-in-law, and this was a review of what had happened..  Verse thirteen says, And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife.  Othniel, Caleb's nephew, took Kirjathepher and Caleb gave him his daughter to be his wife.  Again, we may not really understand the way things were back then, or even in parts of the world today, but we do know that Caleb was a man who put this faith in God, so I believe that he was doing what he thought would be best for his daughter.  She would have a strong husband to care for her once Caleb was gone.  Verse fourteen adds, And it came to pass, when she came to him, that she moved him to ask of her father a field: and she lighted from off her ass; and Caleb said unto her, What wilt thou?  Caleb's daughter was also looking out for what would be best for her husband.  She was moved to have her husband to ask Caleb for a certain field.  I don't believe that this was from greed, but from knowing that it was going to be needed because of the water there.  When we as followers of Christ ask God for anything, it should never be out of greed or selfish desire, but should always be because we have a need for whatever it is that we ask.  Verse fifteen adds, And she said unto him, Give me a blessing: for thou hast given me a south land; give me also springs of water. And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the nether springs.  She asked Caleb for the springs of water to go with the southland as well, and Caleb gave it to her.  Again, I believe that Caleb was attempting to insure her safety and security after he died.  We need to do the best that we can to help our children find safety and security after we die, and the best thing that we can do is to tell them about Jesus Christ.  This is the only blessing with everlasting security.  Verse sixteen declares, And the children of the Kenite, Moses’ father in law, went up out of the city of palm trees with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which lieth in the south of Arad; and they went and dwelt among the people.  Some of the descendants of Moses' father-in-law went to dwell among the inhabitants of the wilderness of Judah.  Verse seventeen states, And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they slew the Canaanites that inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. And the name of the city was called Hormah.  The people of Judah utterly destroyed the Canaanites that lived in Zephath, in the city of Hormah.  The people of Israel had been told to destroy all the inhabitants of the land, and sometimes they did and at other times they didn't.  We may think that destroying all the inhabitants was cruel, but once again, God sees things from an eternal spiritual prospective.  Verse eighteen says, Also Judah took Gaza with the coast thereof, and Askelon with the coast thereof, and Ekron with the coast thereof.  The people of Judah continued to defeat the people in the land, just as we must continue to defeat our spiritual enemies today.  This does not mean that we are to kill them all though, but that we are to reach out to them with the love of God.  Verse nineteen declares, And the LORD was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron.  We are told that the people of Judah were successful through the power of God, except against the people of the valley, who had chariots.  I don't believe that the chariots were more powerful than the people of Judah under God's power, but that they more likely saw the chariots more than they saw God's power.  We today as followers of Christ may see certain things as being to powerful to overcome if we see the problem more than we see God.  Verse twenty adds, And they gave Hebron unto Caleb, as Moses said: and he expelled thence the three sons of Anak.  We are told once again that Caleb was given his land as Moses had said for him to be.  Caleb had remained faithful to God, and his faith was rewarded.  When we remain faithful to God today, our faith will be rewarded, if not in this life, then in the one to come.