Judges 18:28 There was no one to rescue them because they lived a long way from Sidon and had no relationship with anyone else. The city was in a valley near Beth Rehob. The Danites rebuilt the city and settled there. 
There are probably better places in Scripture from which to make this point but given that all of Scripture is God breathed and useful then it cannot be without significance that the reason the city of Laish fell to the Danites was not only that it was a long way from Sidon but also that it had no relationship with anyone else (see also verse 7). A people apparently living in safety, like the Sidonians, unsuspecting and secure were easily overcome by the Danites and their land, which lacked nothing and that had made them so prosperous was quickly lost. Those peaceful and unsuspecting people were attacked with the sword and their city burned down (verse 8). A wiser people would have made a treaty with Sidon or with some other city and not failed to foster relationships with at least one other city or other. What is true for cities and, by implication, for larger states, is also true for churches and for individuals. If we are unwilling to have relationships with others, as prosperous and as peaceful as we may be in the short term, we may well find ourselves under attack from one quarter or another and unable to continue as we once did in safety and security. Local churches should be independent, I believe, but not isolated. It is true that we are to carry our own load but a burden shared is a burden halved. Let the story of Laish be a warning to us.
There are probably better places in Scripture from which to make this point but given that all of Scripture is God breathed and useful then it cannot be without significance that the reason the city of Laish fell to the Danites was not only that it was a long way from Sidon but also that it had no relationship with anyone else (see also verse 7). A people apparently living in safety, like the Sidonians, unsuspecting and secure were easily overcome by the Danites and their land, which lacked nothing and that had made them so prosperous was quickly lost. Those peaceful and unsuspecting people were attacked with the sword and their city burned down (verse 8). A wiser people would have made a treaty with Sidon or with some other city and not failed to foster relationships with at least one other city or other. What is true for cities and, by implication, for larger states, is also true for churches and for individuals. If we are unwilling to have relationships with others, as prosperous and as peaceful as we may be in the short term, we may well find ourselves under attack from one quarter or another and unable to continue as we once did in safety and security. Local churches should be independent, I believe, but not isolated. It is true that we are to carry our own load but a burden shared is a burden halved. Let the story of Laish be a warning to us.
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