Years ago someone very sincerely asked me about Judges 1:19. They queried how on earth this verse could not be seen as a major problem in our understand of God and His omnipotence-

"The LORD was with the men of Judah. They took possession of the hill country, but they were unable to drive the people from the plains, because they had iron chariots."

Perhaps many people have been methodically reading their way through the Old Testament and learning about God as the Omnipotent One: the One who created everything, smote armies, parted seas, burned a bush without consuming it, shook a mountain, opened the earth to swallow the rebellious, provided a fire by night and a cloud by day to protect a nation of desert-wanderers for a generation, and confounded when they arrive at Judges 1:19 because God seemingly couldn't help His people to defeat an enemy all because they had iron chariots!

In one sense, the enemies of God's people had better technology than the people of God. Perhaps we could say that today it appears the same today. Just this weekend I heard one British media commentator say that the most powerful cultural influence in the world today was Hollywood. One of the latest offerings from Hollywood is the DaVinci Code. The movie cost about $170,000,000 to make, but over $300,000,000 to market! And consider how Sony have chosen to market it. Naturally they've got all the traditional bases covered like movie trailers, television ads, cinema posters, billboards- and the newer forms, such as internet sites, screen-savers, PC wallpapers, and PlayStation games. But there's also a whole generation of electronic marketing emerging which companies like Sony are keen to exploit. For example, last month I bought a new Sony mobile (cell) phone and was encouraged to register my purchase online. Upon doing so I was immediately offered a free download of a sneak preview of the DaVinci Code movie to play on my new phone! My new phone has the potential to store and play an entire full length feature movie- and companies like Sony are making huge investments now to both capture this looming global market and to educate the world about its availability. So lucrative and global is this new mobile entertainment industry expected to be, that the Pornography industry is gearing up by investing millions of dollars into it, to cash in on what is expected to be a multi-billion dollar annual industry.

While the net attendance figures of people in Christian worship services on any given Sunday is apparently declining, it's worth noting that so are other forms of communal social activities. People are increasingly getting their information, advice, shopping, entertainment, education, and social input, privately. Companies like Sony have recognised this trend and are gearing their technology to capture it. Perhaps its time for the Church to realise without reliquishing the power of assembling together (Heb. 10:25) that we also need to do more to reach an increasingly private people?

While a new technological era is dawning upon the world, much of the Church is vainly continuing to do what it has always done and refusing to gear up technologically for this new era and the preferred media choice of an emerging generation.
I have pondered this controversial verse in Judges 1:19 and realised that despite God being with people, fear can prevent people from having the courage to engage in a war in which they may have already lost a battle. Judges 3:1-2 reveals that God deliberately wanted His people to be battle-ready and prepared to fight for what He had given them. I wonder what would have happened if the people of God, after losing that battle to Canaanites in Judges 1:19 had come back to God and asked Him for wisdom and guidance. I wonder if God may have replied that He wanted them to now gear up technologically to defeat an enemy more technologically advanced? We know that God intended for His people to defeat these people even though they had superior technology because He had told them that they would defeat them-

...but the hill country shall be yours, for though it is a forest, you shall clear it and possess it to its farthest borders. For you shall drive out the Canaanites, though they have chariots of iron, and though they are strong...
Joshua 17:18

Perhaps we can take heart that the Bible describes the people of God losing battles (for various reasons) but going on to win the war because (i) they didn't lose heart, (ii) they sought the Lord, and (iii) were prepared to innovate (the reign of King David typifies this) Perhaps we can similarly take heart from their failures when they lost a battle and refused to bounce back- such as is described in Judges 1:19- that we should not do likewise.

HOW WE CAN USE TECHNOLOGY TO ADVANCE THE KINGDOM

eBooks

WebTV

You could pay over $100 a month for cable television to get the programs you want, or you could pay nothing extra than your existing Broadband internet connection and watch it for "free" online. About 10 years ago I enquired about getting a 30 minute slot on our local free-to-air television station. After adding up the costs (which were quite considerable) and factoring in the expertise necessary to pull a team of people together to make it happen, I determined that both expenses would actually be a good investmest to make. So over the last ten years we have been methodically working toward that goal. We have accrued and spent most of what we thought we would need to, and we are now months away from hopefully getting on air. In the meantime, Television technology has changed dramatically. Free-to-air TV is slowly(?) dying as more and more people get their information / entertainment / education / advertising / news, from other sources- all digital. The advent of webTV has totally moved the goalposts for those who feel called to a broader audience. For webTV you no longer need expensive cameras and video mixing equipment - just watch the next the terrorist web-video played on the 6 o'clock news to realise this. Churches wanting to reach their community and contribute to the menu of Christian ministries available to a worldwide audience should consider how they can take advantage of this phenomena. For the past few years I've been writing a weekly email to my church family. While I continue to do this, I also now include a 10 minute web-video clip showing my church what I'm talking about. In a few months we will launch the first of our webTV programs on our findingtruthmatters.org site.

eBay

More Australians are members of eBay than any other organisation! One in seven Australians are eBayers! And for good reason. Prices are generally way below those of traditional retail shops, and the people in remote areas now have access to items that only people in cities enjoyed. I think eBay is great!

I realised the potential of eBay for Kingdom purposes about 3 or so years ago. We have been developing one of Australia's largest eBay ministries over that time. We distribute book, CDs, and DVDs through eBay. To date, we have touched lives all around Australia, America, Europe, Africa and Asia with our resources. Next time you're surfing eBay do a search for LEGANAMEDIA or Andrew Corbett and have a look.

The Need...

The most tragic component of the early chapters of Judges is not that the people of God were thwarted by an enemy with greater technology, but the devastating reaction of the people of God to this battle-loss. Not only did they lose heart, they lost faith in God. Judges 1:19 is not really the problem. Judges 2:10 is the problem.

And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD or the work that he had done for Israel.

We are currently on the verge of either the greatest surge of Kingdom influence the world has ever seen because the modern Church finally embraced technology and used it to reach the next generation to show them God and His ways, or the greatest missed opportunity ever.

Andrew Corbett 6/6/2006