A Will to Obey


Judges 1:27-36
27 Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean and its villages, or Taanach and its villages, or the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages, for the Canaanites persisted in dwelling in that land. 28 When Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not drive them out completely. 29 And Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them. 30 Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, or the inhabitants of Nahalol, so the Canaanites lived among them, but became subject to forced labor. 31 Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco, or the inhabitants of Sidon or of Ahlab or of Achzib or of Helbah or of Aphik or of Rehob, 32 so the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, for they did not drive them out. 33 Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh, or the inhabitants of Beth-anath, so they lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land. Nevertheless, the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and of Beth-anath became subject to forced labor for them. 34 The Amorites pressed the people of Dan back into the hill country, for they did not allow them to come down to the plain. 35 The Amorites persisted in dwelling in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim, but the hand of the house of Joseph rested heavily on them, and they became subject to forced labor. 36 And the border of the Amorites ran from the ascent of Akrabbim, from Sela and upward.

As this first chapter of Judges is designed to set us up for the stories of the leaders God has chosen for His people we find a rehash of the history that is recorded in the book of Joshua. All of what is recorded in our passage for today is also found in Joshua in more detail. But these verses serve to give us a flavor of the attitudes of the Children of Israel as they inhabit the land that God has given to them; they lack a will to obey God’s commands and instructions. Once again we find that their story can often be our story.

In the beginning chapters of Joshua, the Children of Israel are handed The Promised Land by God. He moves them across the Jordan River and victory over the city of Jericho is completed by God alone. They never even have to raise a sword. God displays both His will and His might as He gives them what He has promised. But, as with all things between man and God, the people didn’t want to listen to God completely. In the passage for today we find that six of the twelve tribes (in bold in the text above) do not comply with God’s command to drive the Canaanites from the land. (Some scholars believe that while there are six listed, others also fall into this same category.) Instead, they choose to live among the Canaanites or even to enslave them. This is not what God told them to do. Instead of being set apart for God they mix their faith with the paganism of the Canaanites. This leads them to water down their own religion and set themselves up for a series of compromises that undermine their faith and leads to that "cycle of the Judges" that we discussed a couple days ago.

Each day the culture presents us with options that will most definitely undermine our faith. There are shows to watch, books to read, music to hear, gossip in which to engage, activities to experience – all of which can lead us away from God rather than toward Him. The evil one whispers in our ear that we can easily stand up against the onslaught but that is a lie. Slowly but surely our faith is eroded and we become like our early faith forefathers; we slide into a mix of faith and idolatry that steals our hearts and weakens our resolve to follow God. It is so subtle and slow that we don’t even know it’s happening. But that is exactly where we stand in our culture today.

I’m certain that the Children of Israel believed they had very good reasons not to completely drive the Canaanites out of the land that God had given to them. But they were wrong and their descendants paid the price for their arrogance for generations. Once again, their story is our story. But – all is not lost. Jesus Christ came into the world to live the perfect life and die a horrible death because of our idolatrous arrogance. His blood restores us to the Father's side and even the worst of sins is forgiven. Our justification before the Father is complete. Now we (again) resolve to keep our eyes on Him rather than on the temptations of the world. And I say “again” because it is a daily turning; a daily choice. I can fill my mind with God and His Word, or I can watch a despicable TV show. I can listen to wholesome Christian music or I can fill my mind with vacuous and even vile lyrics that tear me away from God. Our daily walk with Christ is filled with hundreds of tiny decisions, each of which has an impact. I’m not going to say it’s easy – it’s not. But it is most assuredly worth the effort.

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