This morning, our DUMC Bible Reading Plan was on Judges 1.
I found it interesting that it says
Judges 1:7-8
Adoni-bezek said, “I once had seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off, eating scraps from under my table. Now God has paid me back for what I did to them.” They took him to Jerusalem, and he died there. [8] The men of Judah attacked Jerusalem and captured it, killing all its people and setting the city on fire.
But then
Judges 1:21
The tribe of Benjamin, however, failed to drive out the Jebusites, who were living in Jerusalem. So to this day the Jebusites live in Jerusalem among the people of Benjamin.
Jerusalem was on the border between Judah and Benjamin, and had 2 parts: the lower city, in Judah, and the upper city, which was the citadel/fortified part, in Benjamin.
Judah and Simeon attacked and sacked the lower city, in their territory, but not the upper city. in Benjamin's part. There's a steep ridge dividing the two parts, so the Jebusites could defend that. Also, Judah and Simeon only sacked the city, and did not establish a permanent occupation.
As time went on, the Jebusites reoccupied and reinforced the whole city, so that David had to go and conquer it about 2 centuries later.
When I shared this with my family, my wife pointed out:
They sacked the city but did not establish a permanent occupation of the lower city.
This is partial obedience, which is essentially disobedience - the Lord had commanded the Israelites take possession of the land.
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