Send Judah First? A Closer Look At The Book Of Judges

A popular hymn song in many of our Christian Churches is “Send Judah First,” based upon two different events found in the Book of Judges. The first instance is in chapter one: “Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass, that the children of Israel asked the LORD, saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight against them?the LORD said, Judah shall go up…” (Judg. 1:1-2) This incident is seemingly promoted today, as if it were a prophecy fulfilled by the Israeli state in 1948, as well as spiritually in our own lives. The song written by Judith Christie McAllister includes the words, “As Judah goes before us, we defeat the enemy through our true praise.” The word, Judah, means “praise.” This song is an encouraging paean of victory, which we no doubt need to have more of in today’s troubled world. But did Judah then go defeat the enemy?

Unfortunately, in the story found in the Book of Judges, the efforts of the tribe of Judah to conquer the Canaanites and capture the city of Jerusalem were unsuccessful. Adam Clarke says, “…the men of Judah could not drive them out, which probably refers to the strong hold or fortress on Mount Zion, which the Jebusites held till the days of David.”

It was many years later under the united monarchy that David was finally able to free Jerusalem and make it his royal city. So, if in fact this account of Judah’s attempted conquest in the Book of Judges is a prophecy fulfilled in our era, as some think, the Israeli state is doomed to failure! Let us take a closer look at what the Word of God is actually teaching us.

The Book of Joshua tells the story of the Israel tribes’ conquest of Canaan. After the death of the Ephraimite prophet and general, Joshua, the twelve tribes were disunited and individually fighting for each of their own particular tribal areas. It was not a united national army. The Interpretation of the English Bible Commentary says, “Tribal responsibility commenced when the land was allotted and the general or national army was dismissed.”

F.B. Meyer on Judges 1:1-15 says, “The land…had also been conquered and divided by lot, as we learn in Joshua 14:1-5. The portion of Judah is specified in Joshua 15:1-63…each tribe had to possess its own, first by the sword, and ultimately by the plow and the spade.”

Commentary on the Holy Bible (J.R. Dummelow, ed.) says, “The narrative in Joshua…narrates the movements of separate tribes…after the main body of Israelites had crossed the Jordan, captured Jericho, and made Gilgal their headquarters, the larger number of them [the ten-tribes of the House of Israel], under Joshua, faced northwards, while Judah and Simeon remained in the south, and, for some time, were almost detached from the main body.” The two houses of Israel—Ephraim and Judah—were in those days of the pre-monarchy entirely separate entities, and the twelve individual tribes operated independently as well.

The Biblical Background Commentary also verifies this: “Despite the description of the sacking and burning of Jerusalem in this passage (Judges 1:7-8), all other references to that city and its Jebusite inhabitants during the settlement period indicate a failure to occupy the site by either Judah (Josh. 15:63) or the tribe of Benjamin (Judg. 1:21). In Judges 19:10-12 it is still considered a foreign city…It will remain for David to finally conquer the city and transform it into the Israelite capital (2 Sam. 5:6-10).”

Judah was concerned only with seizing their small allotted tribal territory, not with leading a conquest of the whole of the Promised Land. The national army had dispersed after the death of Joshua. Adam Clarke commented on the statement, “Come up with me into my lot” (Judges 1:3) – “It appears that the portions of Judah and Simeon had not been cleared of the Canaanites, or that these were the parts which were now particularly invaded.”

Similarly, Thomas Coke wrote, “Judah shall go up (Judges 1:2) — This was the most numerous and most valiant of the tribes, Gen. 49:8, and is commanded to go up…because those nations were to be subdued which were in the lot of this tribe, as appears from the third verse, Come up to me into my lot.”

The declaration that Judah should go up first was determined by Phinehas, the high-priest, inquiring of the Urim and Thummim in the House of God. Adam Clarke remarked, “Joshua had left no successor, and every thing relative to the movements of this people must be determined either by caprice, or an especial direction of the Lord.”

With Judah being sent first in accord with God’s authorization, why did Judah fail in its mission? It was entirely due to practicing false religion. The Concise Commentary explains, “These tribes are guilty of barbarity in the case of Adonibezek (Judges 1:5-7), but it is not to be supposed that God commended this action…The defeat in verse 19 is explained not by the lack of power in the case of Judah, but by unbelief.” So the military offensive by Judah was unsuccessful due to their false religion and unbelief in God and His Word! Is that a parallel with today?

Judah did not go first alone as a sole forerunner, because Simeon, a tribe of the House of Israel, joined. “Judah invites the cooperation of Simeon because the territory of the latter was contiguous and intermixed with Judah.” (Concise Commentary, Judges 1:3).” So Judah did not go alone as a forerunner as some claim; both of the houses of Ephraim and Judah were represented. This again negates any parallel with the events of 1948 and the Jewish takeover of Palestine. 

The second example of Judah going first is found in Judges chapter 20, where we read, “And the children of Israel arose, and went up to the house of God, and asked counsel of God, and said, Which of us shall go up first to the battle against the children of Benjamin? And the LORD said, Judah shall go up first.the children of Israel rose up in the morning, and encamped against Gibeah.And the men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin; and the men of Israel put themselves in array to fight against them at Gibeah.” (Jdg. 20:18-20). This is nothing for us to celebrate today in song and dance. It was a fratricidal war that nearly wiped out the entire tribe of Benjamin.

The Preachers Commentary observed, “It would be hard to find a darker or more depressing episode in the whole Old Testament story of God’s people than this account of civil war in Israel, with which the Book of Judges concludes. Certainly there were many black moments to come later when the armies of Assyria and Babylon swept the nation into exile; but this appalling, self-inflicted genocide with 40,000 Israelites cut down in the first two days of the battle, and 25,100 Benjamites on the final decisive day, is a massacre of gruesome proportions. No wonder the survivors of the catastrophe are to be found weeping before God at Bethel, ’Why has this come to pass in Israel?’ (Jdg. 21:3). The answer is the story of the Book of Judges. The sins of idolatry and immorality always lead, in the end, to self-destruction.”

That was the story in early Israel, and that is still the story today with the constant war and destruction in the Mideast due to a failure to adopt true religion, the Christian faith.