Hi Ozmo!
Matthew 19:26 if taken in context is referring to people being saved and how they can't get "in" on their own.
But Judges 1:19 does look like quite a dilemma! It's also something that you need to read the surrounding text so you can take the whole thing into context. (A lot of times cults will take a verse out of context and give it a whole new meaning that sometimes has nothing to do w/what it is saying)
Here is something I found that has a pretty good explanation IMO. Whether you think so or not is of course up to you. But after you read it, you may want to read the entire chapters of Judges 1 and 2 to understand more fully.
(from yahoo.com)
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Yes, sounds confusing. The text is not clear as to who exacly could not drive out the inhabitants of the lowland. Was it God or was it Judah?
Most commentators seem to think that this verse is improperly rendered. For example, Adam Clarke says
"Jdg 1:19 -
And the Lord was with Judah, and he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron - Strange! were the iron chariots too strong for Omnipotence? The whole of this verse is improperly rendered. The first clause, The Lord was with Judah should terminate the 18th verse, and this gives the reason for the success of this tribe: The Lord was with Judah, and therefore he slew the Canaanites that inhabited Zephath, etc., etc. Here then is a complete period: the remaining part of the verse either refers to a different time, or to the rebellion of Judah against the Lord, which caused him to withdraw his support. Therefore the Lord was with Judah, and these were the effects of his protection; but afterwards, when the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim, etc., God was no longer with them, and their enemies were left to be pricks in their eyes, and thorns in their side, as God himself had said. This is the turn given to the verse by Jonathan ben Uzziel, the Chaldee paraphrast: “And the Word of Jehovah was in the support of the house of Judah, and they extirpated the inhabitants of the mountains; but afterwards, When They Sinned, they were not able to extirpate the inhabitants of the plain country, because they had chariots of iron.” They were now left to their own strength, and their adversaries prevailed against them. From a work called the Dhunoor Veda, it appears that the ancient Hindoos had war chariots similar to those of the Canaanites. They are described as having many wheels, and to have contained a number of rooms. - Ward’s Customs
