The Lord answered, “Judah shall go up; I have given the land into their hands.”

Judges 1:1-2, 8-10

1 After the death of Joshua, the Israelites asked the Lord, “Who of us is to go up first to fight against the Canaanites?”
2 The Lord answered, “Judah shall go up; I have given the land into their hands.”
8 The men of Judah attacked Jerusalem also and took it. They put the city to the sword and set it on fire.
9 After that, Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites living in the hill country, the Negev and the western foothills. 10 They advanced against the Canaanites living in Hebron (formerly called Kiriath Arba) and defeated Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai.

Today’s title is “Judah Shall Go Up”

A man has many questions about our life, the world, and the universe. The bible gives the clearest and consistent answers for the fundamental questions. But still, there are many unknown things in our life. Don’t we need to know what the Bible is silent about? What do you think? The bible has a very profound answer to the question. It says, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law (Deuteronomy 29:29)”. In other words, God has given us sufficient revelation of life, the universe, and salvation. For whatever God has left unknown to us, there is a reason for it. Our focus should be to obey what is revealed to us. Just be faithful to what’s known to you. God will take care of the rest. Maybe that’s the reason why God left some things unknown to us. He left those unknown so that we might be more humbly waiting upon Him daily. I think we get a glimpse of such a combination of man’s obedience and God’s providence in today’s passage. The book of Judges starts with the death of Joshua who took the place of Moses. The subsequent question will be “Who then will take the place of Joshua?”. In other words, “Who is going to lead us now that Joshua is gone?”. Well, what do you think? The textbook answer might be “Judges”. That’s correct, but not 100% in my opinion. Obviously, we will talk about a lot of judges in the book of Judges. But I believe that the book of Judges introduces us to the forthcoming reign of the tribe of Judah. In a way, the book of Judges says to us, “Now the tribe of Judah such as King David will take the place of Joshua.” We get a hint of God’s providence in today’s passage. Right after Joshua’s death, the Israelites asked the Lord, “Who of us is to go up first to fight against the Canaanites? ” The Lord answered, “Judah shall go up; I have given the land into their hands.” I believe God has a plan for Judah from a long time ago. God tole through dying Jacob that the scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come (Genesis 49:10)”. Caleb had obeyed God faithfully and boldly requested it. Do you see here how the providence of God meets with the obedience of man? I believe the same principle of God’s providence and man’s obedience applies to all of us. God has a plan for us. We may not know it now. But if we are faithful day to day, we will see it coming true. What can be God’s plan for you? Are you making it come true by daily obedience? Then you will surely see God’s mystery unfold before you.