Joshua 15-17
But the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the people of Judah could not drive out, so the Jebusites dwell with the people of Judah at Jerusalem to this day.
Joshua 15:63
However, [Ephraim] did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites have lived in the midst of Ephraim to this day but have been made to do forced labor.
Joshua 16:10
Yet the people of Manasseh could not take possession of those cities, but the Canaanites persisted in dwelling in that land. Now when the people of Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not utterly drive them out.
Joshua 17:12-13
It should be clear by now that any failure to drive out the Canaanites is not due to some weakness or inability on the part of the LORD God Almighty. So why the failure? Given what we’ve previously seen, I think it is reasonable to assume that not all the people of Israel are as wholeheartedly devoted to the LORD as Caleb. That is not to say that they are completely faithless or that they are in outright rebellion against the LORD. No. They are indeed pressing forward — somewhat — which just goes to say that they are a lot like us (or me, anyway)…
The early victories (in the power of the LORD) probably led many to start thinking something along these lines: “This is easier than I thought it would be. I must be a better fighter than I imagined. And these Canaanites are wusses. I can do this!” And so, they drift into self-reliance, meaning less trust in the LORD. Of course, the consequence of such self-reliance (and forgetting the LORD) is the subsequent train of thought along these lines: “Some of these Canaanites aren’t wusses at all. They have chariots of iron. I’m not that good a fighter. I can’t do this! Maybe we should call a truce.” And so, the Canaanites are not fully driven out.
Sound familiar?
Continuing with the allegorical notion that the Canaanites represent sin in our lives, our objective should be to utterly drive out that sin, but we, like Israel, generally stop short and do not fully accomplish that objective. We fall into the same patterns of thinking as they, and we surrender to some “acceptable” level of sin that “isn’t too bad”. Let’s break that pattern here and now. Let’s re-engage the enemy, but not in our own strength. We cannot fight this battle alone. We must fully rely on Christ to gain the victory. He just needs our cooperation.
Your last statement, “Let’s break that pattern here and now. Let’s re-engage the enemy…” is a rallying-cry that I, for one, really appreciate right now. During Lent, we are asked to strengthen our resolve and focus on our faith. Thank you for adding your encouragement to my (our) efforts (which need buttressing)!
If RTB doesn’t get God at work through us, then Gentle and Lowly should. Reading these together are emphasizing God at work. Last night at the small group, we talked about accidental and intentional sin, which John pointed out a few weeks ago. And, how well does our heart follow God’s desire for us or following our own self-reliance. Always, lots to think about!
These past few days without power, I have been reading my Bibles and my 2 groups books and spending more time at night reflecting and using the dark and quietness to listen to God more. Hopefully I’ll have electricity back at 1:00 pm today. If not I’m enjoying this time of quiet study. (Although I still pleaded really hard to God this morning for the electric to come back on. It’s getting colder.) I agree John, we get to a point where we start to backslide and not fully honor God’s plan for us and fall back to our own devices. I want to keep this up when the electric comes back on but distractions will slip back in view. I’m praying for strength to not fall back in my old ways but to turn off the phone and t.v. and spend more time with God. I pray for strength to continue on God’s path for all of you as well and ask you to lift me in prayer.