Judges 1:17

 Judges 1:17 says, 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.  Together, the people of the tribes of Judah and Simeon killed the people of Canaan in Zephath and utterly destroyed it.  This was Simeon's land that the were working together to capture, just as the people of Judah had promised.  We as followers of Christ need to keep our promises to others, and we need to help one another defeat sin in the world.  Verse eighteen adds, Also Judah took Gaza with the coasts thereof, and Askelon with the coasts thereof,  and Ekron with the coasts thereof,   We are then told that Judah took Gaza, Askelon, and Ekron with their coasts.  These were cities of the Philistines, not the Canaanites, and all the inhabitants were not destroyed.  We cannot allow any sin, which is our true enemy today, to continue live in our lives as Christians.  Verse nineteen  continues,  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 God was with Judah and that they were successful in driving the people out of the mountains, but not from the valley, because the people there had chariots.  This was due to a lack of faith on the part of the people of Judah, because if they put their faith in God, chariots wouldn't have mattered.  If we are faithfully following God, we don't have to worry about what weapons our enemies may have, because nothing is more powerful than God.  Verse twenty states, And they gave Hebron unto Caleb, as Moses said: and he expelled thence the three sons of Anak. Caleb was given the land of Hebron to conquer as Moses had promised, and he drove out three sons of Anak who lived there.  Though he was now old, he was still faithful to God and successful because of his faith.  No matter how old we may be as Christians, as long as we are faithful to God, He will continue to give us success as we undertake doing what He calls us to do.  Verse twenty-one says, And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day.  The tribe of Benjamin did not drive the Jebusites out of Jerusalem, as God had commanded.  We as followers of Christ cannot compromise our faith and be totally devoted to God and allow sin to continue to live in our life.  Verse twenty-two states, And the house of Joseph, they also went up against Bethel: and the LORD was with them.  The people of the tribe of Joseph, through Ephraim his son, went up against Bethel, and the LORD was with them.  Verse twenty-three adds, And the house of Joseph sent to descry Bethel. (Now the name of the city before was Luz.)  Verse twenty-four continues, And the spies saw a man come forth out of the city, and they said unto him, Shew us, we pray thee, the entrance into the city, and we will shew thee mercy.  While the people of the house  of Joseph were on their way to Bethel, which had been called Luz, they had sent spies to find the best way into the city.  They met a man coming out of the city, and told him that if he would show them the way in that they would let him live.  Verse twenty-five states, And when he shewed them the entrance into the city, they smote the city with the edge of the sword; but they let go the man and all his family.  The man showed them the entrance and the people of the tribe of Joseph killed the people there.  Matthew Henry says the man who showed them the way in was not looked down on for compromising his people.  If a non Christian helps us today, even at the cost of other non Christians, we should not look down on him for his actions.  Verse twenty-six adds, And the man went into the land of the Hittites, and built a city, and called the name thereof Luz: which is the name thereof unto this day.  Though he could have, the man chose not to stay with the people of Joseph, but went into the land of the Hittites to live, where he built a city and called it Luz.  He may have helped the people of Joseph, but he didn't want to become a part of them.  Non Christians may help us today and yet still not want to be a part if God's family.