Judges 4:1 says, And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, when Ehud was dead.  Once again, after the leader, or judge, that God raised up died, the people of Israel stopped being obedient to Him and began to sin again.  This is something we cannot afford to do as Christians.  Our faith cannot be based on any earthly leader.  Verse two states, And the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose host was Sisera, which dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles.  Once again, without God's protection, the people of Israel were defeated, this time by Jabin of Canaan.  Verse three says, And the children of Israel cried unto the LORD: for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel.  The people of Israel once again called out to God.  Jabin had a powerful army, and the people of Israel saw that, so they knew that they needed God to deliver them.  Too often we wait until we are defeated spiritually before we call out to God, but if we are a follower of Christ, He will always hear us when we do call out.  Verse four declares, And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time.  This time, God raised up a female judge, Deborah.  We are told that she was a prophetess.  God never has worked exclusively through men to accomplish His purpose, and He doesn't today.  Verse five states, And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment.  The people of Israel came to her for judgment where she was.  I am not sure that this sat well with many of the men of Israel.  Not only was God working through a woman, but they had to go to her instead of her coming to them.  Verse six adds, And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedeshnaphtali, and said unto him, Hath not the LORD God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun?  Deborah called Barak, and asked him if God had not commanded him to take ten thousand men of the tribe of Naphtali and Zebulon.  This would imply that God was already speaking to Barak, but that he evidently wasn't obeying Him.  Verse seven continues, And I will draw unto thee to the river Kishon Sisera, the captain of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into thine hand.  God had already promised success to Barak and his army. just as God promises us success over our spiritual enemies today if we are following the leadership of the Holy Spirit.  Verse eight declares, And Barak said unto her, If thou wilt go with me, then I will go: but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go.  Even though Deborah had told Barak that God would bring him the victory, he refused to go unless Deborah went with him.  We do not need to wait for anyone else to go with us when we know what God wants us to do.  We only need to keep our faith in God.  Verse nine states, And she said, I will surely go with thee: notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honour; for the LORD shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh,  Deborah agreed to go with Barak, but she also said that the honor would go to God and not to Barak, since God would deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman..  Whatever we do today as Christians should be done for the honor of God and not for self glorification.  Verse ten states, And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and he went up with ten thousand men at his feet: and Deborah went up with him.  Now that Deborah was going with him, Barak assembled his ten thousand men and went out to do battle.  If we know what God wants us to do, we should be ready to do whatever it is without any need for someone to direct us or to go with us to do it.

Judges 3:23 says, Then Ehud went forth through the porch, and shut the doors of the parlour upon him, and locked them.  This is really the rest of the story of Ehud killing Eglon and what happened afterward.  Ehud left the house and closed the doors behind him.  Verse twenty-four states, When he was gone out, his servants came; and when they saw that, behold, the doors of the parlour were locked, they said, Surely he covereth his feet in his summer chamber.  When Eglon's servants came, they found the doors locked   The servants thought Eglon must be asleep and they didn't want to disturb him.  They may have been afraid to do so, but in any case this worked to Ehud's advantage.  Sometimes, even the traits of those who don't know God can work to our advantage in our battle against them.  Verse twenty-five adds, And they tarried till they were ashamed: and, behold, he opened not the doors of the parlour; therefore they took a key, and opened them: and, behold, their lord was fallen down dead on the earth.  The servants waited until they were ashamed of there tarrying outside the door for so long, and they eventually opened the door and found the king dead.  Their fear of or consideration for the king gave Ehud a long time to escape.  Verse twenty-six declares, And Ehud escaped while they tarried, and passed beyond the quarries, and escaped unto Seirath.  Matthew Henry says that Ehud may not have returned all the way to the place he lived before, but anyway, he returned successfully to wherever he decided to stop.  Verse twenty-seven adds, And it came to pass, when he was come, that he blew a trumpet in the mountain of Ephraim, and the children of Israel went down with him from the mount, and he before them.  Wherever he was, Ehud blew the trumpet to call the rest of the people of Israel to him.  One day, as followers of Christ, wherever we are, God is going to sound the trumpet to call us to Him.  Verse twenty-eight says, And he said unto them, Follow after me: for the LORD hath delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand. And they went down after him, and took the fords of Jordan toward Moab, and suffered not a man to pass over.  Ehud called on them to follow him, because God had delivered the Moabites unto them.  The people had to put their faith in Elud knowing what he was talking about and in God being with them.  We today as followers of Christ have to put our faith in God's word and in knowing that He is with us at all times through the presence of the Holy Spirit.  Verse twenty-nine proclaims, And they slew of Moab at that time about ten thousand men, all lusty, and all men of valour; and there escaped not a man.  The people of Israel defeated ten thousand strong and valorous men that day, leaving not even one to escape.  I believe that we can say that when we are following God's guidance that no matter how strong our enemies may be, or how many of them there are, that through our faith we will be spiritually victorious over them.  Verse thirty states, So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest fourscore years.  After Moab was defeated, the people of Israel had eighty years of peace.  Though we may have battles here on earth, through our relationship with Christ, we have everlasting peace.  Verse thirty-one adds, And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath, which slew of the Philistines six hundred men with an ox goad: and he also delivered Israel.  During this time, the Philistines were beginning to oppose the people of Israel, Matthew Henry says on the other side of the Jordan.  Wherever it was, Shamgar killed six hundred of them, not with a sword, but with an ox goad.  We can be certain that when one enemy of God is defeated that another will arise.  We can also be certain that with God's power behind us that we will be successful in our battles, even if we are not always victorious in this life.

Judges 3:12 says, And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the LORD.  Once again, after a period of peace under one of the judges God had sent, the people of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD.  They were once again left without God's power sustaining them.  As followers of Christ, we cannot hope to successfully defeat the evil influences we come into contact with daily without the power of the Holy Spirit sustaining us.  Verse thirteen states, And he gathered unto him the children of Ammon and Amalek, and went and smote Israel, and possessed the city of palm trees.  The king of Moab allied with the people of Ammon and Amalek and together they defeated the people of Israel.  We can be certain that the people of the world will be united in their stand against Christianity, even if they are at times fighting each other.  Verse fourteen declares, So the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years.  The people of Israel were in bondage to Eglon, the king of Moab, for eighteen years.  When we are not living under God's leadership, we are in bondage to sin, even if we are a Christian.  We will still be a child of God, but we will not be have His protection if we are doing evil in the world.  Verse fifteen adds, But when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, the LORD raised them up a deliverer, Ehud the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a man lefthanded: and by him the children of Israel sent a present unto Eglon the king of Moab.  Once again, the people of Israel called out to God, and He heard them.  God did not leave them, but they left Him.  When we find ourselves in a sinful situation, all we have to do is call out to God in forgiveness, and He will hear us.  God raised up another judge, Ehud, a left-handed man.  Since we are told that, I had to repeat it, being left-handed myself.  The people of Israel sent a present to Eglon by Ehud.  Verse sixteen states, But Ehud made him a dagger which had two edges, of a cubit length; and he did gird it under his raiment upon his right thigh. Ehud made a two edged dagger and hid it on his right thigh.  Verse seventeen adds, And he brought the present unto Eglon king of Moab: and Eglon was a very fat man.  Then verse eighteen declares, And when he had made an end to offer the present, he sent away the people that bare the present.  We are told that Eglon was a very fat man, and that after Ehud had presented the present that the others around him were sent away with the present.  Verse nineteen declares, But he himself turned again from the quarries that were by Gilgal, and said, I have a secret errand unto thee, O king: who said, Keep silence. And all that stood by him went out from him.  After giving Eglon the present, Ehud told him that he had a secret errand for him, getting him away from those who would normally be close to him.  Since Eglon had received a present, I believe that he was looking for more gifts, or was led by his greed we could say.  Verse twenty says, And Ehud came unto him; and he was sitting in a summer parlour, which he had for himself alone. And Ehud said, I have a message from God unto thee. And he arose out of his seat.  Ehud came to Eglon in the summer palace and told him he had a message from God for him.  When we encounter people today who do not believe in God and who may even be attempting to destroy those who do believe in Him, we must go to them with a message from God.  For us, that message is that salvation is available through Jesus Christ.  Verse twenty-one proclaims, And Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly:  Ehud took the dagger and thrust it into the belly of Eglon, and left.  Verse twenty-two adds,And the haft also went in after the blade; and the fat closed upon the blade, so that he could not draw the dagger out of his belly; and the dirt came out.  The fat closed over the dagger, and Elgon was unable to remove it, and it says that dirt came out.  In this situation, God did not send an army against the king who had defeated Israel, but one man.  We do not need to question God's methods used to defeat the evil forces in the world today, but ultimately they are defeated by One Man, Jesus Christ.  Of course, this is not done by any trick, but by the very public display of Christ giving up His life on the cross for all who will believe.

Judges 3:1

Judges 3:1 says, Now these are the nations which the LORD left, to prove Israel by them, even as many of Israel as had not known all the wars of Canaan;  We are told that God left certain nations in order to prove the faith of Israel.  It says that many in Israel had not known the ways of the people of Canaan, so they could not be tempted by their ways and their gods.  I do know that when we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord that not all temptation is removed from our lives, but we daily face temptations, some of which we may not have even known before.. Verse two states, Only that the generations of the children of Israel might know, to teach them war, at the least such as before knew nothing thereof;  God did not allow them to be confronted with temptation for them to fail, but in order for them to learn to rely on Him to be successful.  God will never lead us into a situation just to see us fail, but will be with us in any situation so that we might succeed.  Verse three adds, Namely, five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites that dwelt in mount Lebanon, from mount Baalhermon unto the entering in of Hamath.  When we look back at Joshua, we see that God told the people of Israel to drive out all the people of the land, and often they didn't.  Still, even if they had, there were other nations around them, and some of the enemies that they would face are listed here.  We need to realize that we are always going too be confronted with enemies in this world as Christians, some more powerful than others.  Verse four says, And they were to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would hearken unto the commandments of the LORD, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.  Like the people of Israel, when we encounter an enemy today, God will be waiting to see if we give in to the enemy or follow Him by faith.  Verse five adds, And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, Hittites, and Amorites, and Perizzites, and Hivites, and Jebusites:  There were many people around to lead the people astray if they failed to follow God, just as there are for us today.  Verse six continues, And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons, and served their gods.  We are told that the people of Israel did not remain true to God, but began to intermarry with the other people around them.  We need to be careful today that we do not begin to intermix with the people of the world in such a way that it leads us away from God.  Even when we are in the world, we cannot be of the world.  God calls us to be a separate people from the rest of the world. spiritually.  Verse seven declares, And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and forgat the LORD their God, and served Baalim and the groves.  God's people forgot Him after they intermarried with the people of the world.  We might ask how they could do this knowing the power of God, but these were younger people of Israel who may not have witnessed His power.  Of course, as followers of Christ, we also at times can be tempted by the things of the world, and if we begin to compromise, we may soon forget the power of God in our life.  Verse eight adds, Therefore the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Chushanrishathaim king of Mesopotamia: and the children of Israel served Chushanrishathaim eight years.  God was angry with the people of Israel and allowed them to be defeated and to go into servitude once again.  When we turn away from God's guidance, we should not be surprised if He allows us to end up under the power of sin once again.  Verse nine proclaims, And when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer to the children of Israel, who delivered them, even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother.  When the people of Israel called out again to Him, He raised up a deliverer, Othniel, Caleb's nephew.  When we find ourselves under the power of sin today, we simply need to call out to God.  We already have our deliverer in Jesus Christ, and our source of power in the Holy Spirit if we are a follower of Christ.  God never forsakes us.  Verse ten adds, And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he judged Israel, and went out to war: and the LORD delivered Chushanrishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand prevailed against Chushanrishathaim.  The Spirit of God was with Othniel, their deliverer, and the Holy Spirit is with us today to deliver us.  Verse eleven concludes, And the land had rest forty years. And Othniel the son of Kenaz died.  The land of Israel was at peace for forty years, as long as Othniel lived.  Fortunately, we do not have to rely on an earthly leader to keep us successful in our relationship with God.  The Holy Spirit is with us forever.

Joshua 2:11

Joshua 2:11 says, And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim: It didn't take long for the people of Israel to forget about God.  They began to worship a false god. Baalim.  We today should not be surprised if people who grew up in Christian families begin to worship other gods.  Christianity is based on a personal relationship with Christ.  If we do not reach people, especially the next generation, with the gospel, they cannot know God, even if they know of Him.  Verse twelve states, And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger.  They forgot God, Who had brought them out of Egypt and then gave them their land and began to worship other gods.  Had they driven all the people of the land out, they might have been faithful to God a little longer, but if people do not have a personal relationship with God, they can be His people in name only.  Needless to say, God was angry with His people.  Verse thirteen adds,  And they forsook the LORD, and served Baal and Ashtaroth.  We are told of two of the false gods that the people of Israel were worshipping.  Verse fourteen declares, And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies.  Even though this says that God sold the people of Israel into the hands of their enemies, I believe that all he really had to do was remove His protective hand from them.  They had already proven themselves to be pretty weak without relying on the power of God.  If we are a follower of Christ today and fall under the power of some evil force in the world and begin to worship some other god, it won't be because God abandoned us, but because we abandoned Him.  Verse fifteen proclaims. Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the LORD was against them for evil, as the LORD had said, and as the LORD had sworn unto them: and they were greatly distressed.  When we are not following God, His hand will definently be against us.  Verse sixteen declares, Nevertheless the LORD raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them.  God had not abandoned His people and rose up judges to delver them from their enemies.  God is not going to abandon those who are called His people forever, but He may allow them to suffer the consequences for their rebellion.  Verse seventeen adds, And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves unto them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of the LORD; but they did not so.  Even when God gave them the judges to deliver them, His people still would not follow Him and obey His laws.  God has made salvation available to all who will put their faith in Christ today, but it does no good unless a person accepts Christ personally as his or her Savior and Lord.  Verse eighteen states, And when the LORD raised them up judges, then the LORD was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented the LORD because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them.  When God raised up a judge, then the people would be delivered from their oppressors.  God has already delivered everyone from their oppressors today if they will only accept His gift of salvation through Christ.  Verse nineteen adds, And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way.  When the judges that God gave the people of Israel to deliver them died, they forgot about God again.  Once we have accepted salvation through Christ, we cannot afford to then forget about God. Verse twenty declares, And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel; and he said, Because that this people hath transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened unto my voice;  Then verse twenty-one adds, I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations which Joshua left when he died:  This cycle repeats itself throughout the history of Israel.  God delivered them, they soon forgot Him, they were defeated, God raised up someone to deliver them, and then they soon forgot God again.  When we accept Christ as our Deliverer, we cannot afford to then forget about God and chase after the things of this world.  Jesus Christ is the only Savior that there will ever be.  Verse twenty-two states,That through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the LORD to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not.  God would deliver the people of Israel again to see if they were going to be faithful to Him.  God never failed in His part of the covenant with Israel, nor will He fail in His covenant with those who accept Christ as their Savior and Lord today.  If we fail to allow Christ to be Lord after we accept Him as our Savior, then we will have problems with God, but it will be because of our actions and not God's.  Verse twenty-three states, Therefore the LORD left those nations, without driving them out hastily; neither delivered he them into the hand of Joshua.  This refers back to the time of Joshua, when all these people should have been driven out but weren't.  God allowed them to stay so the people of Israel then had a choice of remaining faithful to God or chasing after the gods of those people still in the land.  God is not going to remove all temptation from our lives today once we put our faith in Christ, but He is going to expect us to remain faithful to Him,

Judges 2:1

Judges 2:1 says,  And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you.  The people of Israel still had Joshua as their earthly leader, but God was still their real leader.  God sent an angel to speak to them and remind them of all that God had done for them.  Even if we have an earthly leader in our local congregation, God is still in charge, just as He always should be.  The angel said that God would never break His covenant with them.  Verse two states, And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this?  The angel then reminded the people that they had also made promises to God to not make any covenants with the people of the land and to destroy all their altars, and that they had not done this.  The angel then asked them why they had not done so.  We make a promise to God when we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord thst we will remove all other gods from our lives, yet I believe that He too often has to ask us why we haven't done this.  Verse three declares, Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you.  The angel then said that God was not going to drive the people out of the land for them, but that the people would be a thorn in their sides and that their gods would be a snare to the people of Israel.  God could have done this, just as He could force everyone to follow Christ today, but He gave them a choice to do what He commanded, and He does the same for everyone today.  God does not remove all temptation from us, but He gives us the power to overcome all temptation.  The question then is whether we want to obey God or chase after the things of this world.  Verse four states, And it came to pass, when the angel of the LORD spake these words unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept.  After the angel finished speaking, all the people wept.  If we realize that we have not been obedient to God, we should weep tears of sorrow before the Lord.  Verse five adds, And they called the name of that place Bochim: and they sacrificed there unto the LORD.  They then named the place and offered a sacrifice to God.  When we find ourselves disobedient to God and repent of our sins, then we need to once again offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God.  Verse six declares, And when Joshua had let the people go, the children of Israel went every man unto his inheritance to possess the land.  This is still speaking of the time before the death of Joshua, and states that the he let all the people go to their inheritance.  Verse seven adds, And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the LORD, that he did for Israel.  Though they had not been totally obedient in driving out all the people of the land, the people of Israel served the LORD until Joshua and all the elders of that day died.  These people had seen the great works of God.  We today as followers of Christ have seen an even greater work of God, and that is salvation through Christ.  As long as we reach the next generation there will never be a time when there are not people who have seen the great work of God.  Verse eight declares, And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old.  Then verse nine adds, And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathheres, in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gaash.  Joshua died and was buried, as was stated at the end of the book of Joshua.  Then verse ten continues, And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.  After all the elders died, there arose a generation that did not know God and all that He had done for the people of Israel.  We have to conclude that the elders had not done a good job of teaching their children about God, and the children had no personal knowledge of Him.  If we today do not each our children about God, then the next generation will not know the gospel.

Judges 1:21 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.
Though they were told to drive out all the people who inhabited the land, the tribe of Benjamin did not do so either.  We really never can remove ourselves from all the worldly influences around us, but God expects us to remove them from our lives.  Verse twenty-two states, And the house of Joseph, they also went up against Bethel: and the LORD was with them.  The house of Joseph went up against the people of Bethel.  Verse twenty-three adds, And the house of Joseph sent to descry Bethel. (Now the name of the city before was Luz.)  We are told that the name of Bethel had once been Luz, but not when nor why it was changed.  Verse twenty-four declares, 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  Spies from the tribe of Joseph encountered a man coming out of the city and offered him mercy if he would show them the entrance to the city.  Verse twenty-five adds, 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 tribe of Joseph defeated the city and had mercy on the man and his family.  We have to work with the people of the world quite often, and if we make agreements with them, as long as the agreements are not contrary to God's word, then we need to honor them.  If they are not in accordance with God's word, then we don't need to make them to begin with.  Verse twenty-six continues, 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.  The man did not stay in the land, but went to the land of the Hittites and built a city called Luz.  Not everyone that we show the mercy of God to is going to want to be a part of His kingdom, but that does not exempt us from sharing the gospel with them.  Verse twenty=seven says. Neither did Manasseh drive out the inhabitants of Bethshean and her towns, nor Taanach and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns: but the Canaanites would dwell in that land.  The tribe of Manasseh failed to drive out several people from their land, which God had told them to do.  When we fail to drive all the worldly influences out of our lives, it is going to cause us problems later on.  Verse twenty-eight declares,  And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute, and did not utterly drive them out.  Then verse twenty-nine adds, Neither did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer; but the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them.  Another of the tribes of Israel failed to drive out the people of the land, but instead attempted to profit from them being there.  We need to be careful that we don't allow the things of this world to remain in our lives simply because they are profitable.  Verse thirty declares, Neither did Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, nor the inhabitants of Nahalol; but the Canaanites dwelt among them, and became tributaries.  Then verse thirty-one adds, Neither did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Accho, nor the inhabitants of Zidon, nor of Ahlab, nor of Achzib, nor of Helbah, nor of Aphik, nor of Rehob:  Verse thirty-two continues, But the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land: for they did not drive them out.  The tribes of Zebulon and Asher also failed to drive out all the inhabitants of the land.  Verse thirty-three says, Neither did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Bethshemesh, nor the inhabitants of Bethanath; but he dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land: nevertheless the inhabitants of Bethshemesh and of Bethanath became tributaries unto them.  The tribe of Nephtali did not drive all the people out, but they did make some of them pay tribute to them.  In none of these cases was this what God had told them to do.  We cannot compromise what God tells us to do and still be successful in our spiritual life, even if doing so might be the easiest or most profitable thing to do.  Verse thirty-four declares, And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountain: for they would not suffer them to come down to the valley:  Verse thirty-five adds, But the Amorites would dwell in mount Heres in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim: yet the hand of the house of Joseph prevailed, so that they became tributaries.  The Amorites prevailed against the tribe of Dan, forcing them up into the mountain, but the tribe of Joseph prevailed against the Amorites and forced the Amorites in their land to pay them tribute.  Verse thirty-six concludes, And the coast of the Amorites was from the going up to Akrabbim, from the rock, and upward.  God had given specific instructions that the people of Israel were to drive out all the people in the land, but over and over they failed to do so.  God had said He would be with them to give them the victory, but they often failed to claim it.  God did not change or fail them, so the failure had to be a lack of faith or concern on the part of the people.  When we fail to carry out God's calling that He gives us today as followers of Christ, then it must be due to a lack of faith or concern on our part.  God will never fail us.