The Mountains of Ephraim

The first side of the tension mentioned in the last post is deciding whether or not we are going to heed the call of God to be people of the shephelah. There is a great tendency to want to completely separate ourselves from “the world.” We are to be different — to be holy — and that requires an utmost devotion to God and His ways.

There’s a temptation to see the coastal plains as a place of danger, something that will only tear us down, tempt us to sin, and corrupt our souls. We begin to think that the coastal plains must be avoided at all costs.

It is too dangerous. It’s so much easier to be devoted when I separate myself from the darkness.

One of the stories in the Bible that illustrates this most clearly is the story of Dan. It is actually a collection of stories that take place in the backdrop of the story of the Old Testament. When the Israelites entered the "crossroads of the earth,” God gave each tribe a piece of ground and told them to bring shalom to their portion. Each tribe had a different piece of ground and each tribe had a different calling from God — to play their own part in God’s great project.

And Dan has always had a tough call from God.

In the book of Numbers, Dan gets the job of bringing up the rear as Israel travels through the wilderness. This couldn’t have been a fun task, but one that was essential in taking care of God’s people.

And then, when Israel finally makes it “home,” Dan is assigned their plot of ground. The map below shows you where’s Dan’s piece lies:

If you remember the geography, you have probably already noted that Dan lands smack dab in the shephelah. Their land butts up against the land of the Philistines. This is a unique call for the people of Dan — they get to be God’s hands and feet to the Philistines. This will be an incredibly difficult calling, as the impressive and intimidating Philistines outmatch the tiny tribe of Dan on their best day. But God’s strength is made perfect in our weakness (so hang on to those Red Sea moments!), and He hasn’t left Dan on her own. In fact, Dan is protected by the mighty presence of Judah to the south. Dan will never have to fight alone or be hung out to dry.

But it’s too dangerous, right? It’s so much easier to be devoted when I separate myself from the darkness.

But God isn’t trying to run from the darkness. He’s trying to shine light into it. He’s trying to redeem the darkness. And He wants your help.

But Dan backs out on their calling from God and heads to the hill country of Ephraim to eventually settle far away from the temptations and dangers of the darkness (see Judges 18). This map shows where the Danites end up settling:

They don’t trust the story. They don’t accept the partnership God is offering.

And this doesn’t bode well for their future. Even ignoring some other ugly stories (like Jeroboam installing some golden calves at Tel Dan) and just looking at the big picture, what happens to Dan is that they choose to run from God’s plan and settle in the land that looks good. (Does that remind you of Lot and Abram?) What happens is that they settle right on the via maris, the road that runs into the land of Israel, and they will be the first place that gets attacked EVERY TIME an army marches on Israel. Dan will get pummeled time and time again because they choose not to trust God’s story.

And they’ve ran from the community that God provided for them. Judah is not with them in the north. They don’t have the protection of their brothers there.

And in the meantime, God has to find some other way to impact the Philistines.

The rabbis have pointed out that when the Scriptures speak of Dan, in almost every story they are accompanied by Judah. They teach that this is an intentional juxtaposition meant to raise an interesting question:

Are you Dan or Judah?

Are you here to accept the call and mission of God or are you here to take the easy way out? Because God has put you at the crossroads of the earth for a purpose. He desires to use you to shine light in the darkness.

How is your shephelah?

By the time the story of Dan is over, they will be utterly destroyed by the conquering armies. Tel Dan will be seized and everything will be destroyed.

When you read about the tribes of Israel in the book of Revelation, Dan is always missing.

They are no more. Their unwillingness to trust the story ended up costing them their very existence. Will you be Judah or Dan?

Of course, being Judah and storming the shephelah will have its own set of struggles…