Oh, my, tribe of Dan. I see why you chose to settle in Northern Israel. It reminds me of the hills of Northern California. Lush and green. Streams of water flowing from the melted snow from on high. 

But this isn’t where God told you to go. In Judges 18, I read that you found this land despite God giving you the land that is now Tel-Aviv. Your scouts saw “the people who were there, how they lived in security after the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and unsuspecting, lacking nothing that is the earth and possessing wealth, and how they were far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone.” (V. 7) I get it. What’s not to love about all of that?! There’s just one big thing…the land you decided to live worshipped idols and not the God of your ancestors, the God who was giving you a good gift that you rejected. 

What happens when we disobey God and choose to take things into our own hands? Nothing good. This I know. We don’t feel the need to check in with Him on anything else because we know. We know we said no to His offering. 

You, tribe of Dan, became idol worshippers. You blended in with the people living in the land. I saw it with my eyes. I saw your altars. I saw where blood would have splattered from your own veins and from the animals and people you would have sacrificed. 

I saw your view of Lebanon. I heard bombings in the distance. I imagined the uproar in your hearts for generations that lived where God did not send you. 

I stepped over the gushing stream of Dan that flowed from Mount Hermon into the Jor-Dan River. I learned that Jor-Dan was named after your tribe. “Jor” means “from.” From Dan. Never put that together until now. 

In 1 Kings 12:25-33, I read about King Jeroboam who feared your people turning back to God by returning to the temple in Jerusalem, so he constructed two calves of gold and placed one for your convenience in your midst. “And he set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.” How convenient and considerate of him. 

I write to let you know we all can learn from your story. When we turn from God, when we choose our own way, we are trapped inside our own minds and fall victim to fears and pressure from peers. We see how weak we are and cave to culture. All because we took one step at a time away from God. 

We see this in the life of Samson from your tribe. Life in our own hands is fragile and susceptible to all kinds of evil. Our God intends for us to put our lives on the altar of surrender where we die to self and become alive in Him. We don’t lose who we are, rather we gain more by getting Him in us. 

Oh, tribe of Dan, how life would have been different for you if you’d lived where God sent you. If you had offered your lives as a living sacrifice to Him rather than making  wealth, security, and your own pleasure your god. 

Your story convicts me. Your story sends me running to Jesus. I want to be where He sends me. 

Your student,

Shauna 

(Facts shared come from the Scriptures and from the tour with Insight for Living Ministries)

And these photos below tell another story of Tel Dan.