Judges 18:7 - Meaning and Application

Here is the first thing the spies noticed about Laish, and the condition of the people living there, (Judges 18:7). Never was a place so badly governed and so poorly defended. That made it an easy target for anyone who wanted to attack it.

It was badly governed because everyone could do as much evil as he wanted, and there was no magistrate, no one with authority to restrain them. The word means an “heir of restraint,” someone who keeps public power in place to hold back what is evil. Magistrates are entrusted with authority for this purpose, so they can check wicked behavior and be a fear to wrongdoers. Only God’s grace can change a sinner’s heart, but civil authority can restrain sinful actions and keep evil from spreading so widely.

The magistrate cannot remove the root of sin, but he can cut off its branches. He can stop vice from growing, getting bold, and harming the whole community. When there is no check on sin, it becomes daring and dangerous, and the whole society shares in the guilt. The right way to restrain wickedness is to put sinners to shame, so that if they are not moved by fear of God or conscience, they may still be checked by public disgrace. Places that have no real rulers, or rulers who do not use the sword properly, are close to ruin. Then “the wicked freely strut about” (Psalm 12:8). We should be thankful for good laws and good government.

It was also badly defended. The people of Laish were careless, peaceful, and secure. Their gates were left open and their walls were broken down, because they did not think danger could reach them. Yet their sin was so great that they had every reason to fear God’s judgment each day. This also shows that Israel, through laziness and cowardice, was no longer the same terror to the Canaanites that it had once been. If it had been, Laish would not have felt so safe, especially if it knew the land was meant for Israel.

Though Laish was an open inland town, its people lived as securely as the Sidonians, who were protected by the sea and by strong defenses. But Laish was far from Sidon, so Sidon could not come to help them if trouble came. Worse still, their corrupt ways had helped bring them into danger, and no one was nearby to rescue them. They also “had no business with anyone,” which may mean they were idle, with no trade, growing lazy and spoiled. Or it may mean they were independent and proud, refusing alliances or submission to neighbors. Because they cared for no one, no one cared for them.

Because of this, the spies gave their countrymen strong encouragement to go on with the plan against Laish, (Judges 18:8-10). The Danites had likely been thinking the task was too hard and the city impossible to take. They may also have wondered whether Laish was worth such a long and risky journey. The spies answered those fears in their report.

They first described the land as desirable. “We have seen the land,” they said, “and it is very good” (Judges 18:9). It was better than the mountainous land where they were being pressed in by the Philistines. They also said they would lack nothing there, for it was a land where there was no shortage of anything (Judges 18:10). This is another sign of how good Canaan was, since this city, far to the north and near the edge of the land, stood in such a fruitful place.

They also described it as easy to take. They did not doubt that, with God’s blessing, they could soon possess it, because the people were secure (Judges 18:10). The more secure people are, the less safe they often are. In effect, the spies said, “God has given it into your hands, and you may take it.” So they urged the Danites to act at once: “Arise, let us go up against them.” They pressed them to move quickly and boldly, and they rebuked their delay. “Why are you waiting? Do not be lazy to go.” People often need to be stirred up even to pursue their own good. Heaven is a very good land, where there is no lack of anything, and God has given it to us by promise. So let us not be lazy in seeking it, but strive to enter and take hold of eternal life.

Then the Danites set out on their expedition to Laish, (Judges 18:11-13). This family group of Dan, to whom the city had fallen by lot, finally began the journey. There were only 600 armed men in all, not even a hundredth part of the tribe, since Dan had more than 64,000 men when Israel entered Canaan (Numbers 26:43). It is strange that no other men from Dan, and even no help from the other tribes, joined them. But for a long time after Israel entered Canaan, there was very little public spirit or concern for the common good. That is one reason the tribes rarely united under one head, and it kept them weak and unimportant.

These 600 were the whole number who went to settle there, as (Judges 18:21) shows, and they took their families, possessions, young children, and livestock with them. They were fully confident of success. The other tribes let them pass freely through their territory. On the first day they came to Kirjath-jearim, (Judges 18:12). Military camps were so uncommon in Israel by then that the place where they rested became known as Mahaneh-dan, meaning “the camp of Dan.” The place where they began their march, between Zorah and Eshtaol, was probably also called by that name, and is likely the place meant in (Judges 13:25). On the second day they came to Mount Ephraim, near Micah’s house, (Judges 18:13), and there we must pause for a while.