The Unbelief That Could Not Drive Out the Iron Chariots

The tribes of Judah and Simeon go up together and win a great victory, driving out the people of the hill country. Yet when they see that those living in the valley have iron chariots, they hold back of their own accord.

They fail to drive them out not for lack of strength; they could have done it, and they did not. The truth that God was with them had not changed in the least, but the moment they measured themselves against an enemy who looked stronger, fear brought them to their knees. Later, even when they had grown strong, they put those peoples to forced labor rather than driving them out, bending the command to suit their own comfort.

When what can be seen looms larger than God, faith gives way at that very point. God’s word allows no compromise, and only in obedience does the soul live. God’s people must live out the confession that it is God who gives and God who takes away.