Verses 1-10, “The lot fell to the children of Joseph from the Jordan, by Jericho, to the waters of Jericho on the east, to the wilderness that goes up from Jericho through the mountains to Bethel, then went out from Bethel to Luz, passed along to the border of the Archites at Ataroth, and went down westward to the boundary of the Japhletites, as far as the boundary of Lower Beth Horon to Gezer; and it ended at the sea. So the children of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, took their inheritance. The border of the children of Ephraim, according to their families, was thus: The border of their inheritance on the east side was Ataroth Addar as far as Upper Beth Horon. And the border went out toward the sea on the north side of Michmethath; then the border went around eastward to Taanath Shiloh, and passed by it on the east of Janohah. Then it went down from Janohah to Ataroth and Naarah, reached to Jericho, and came out at the Jordan. The border went out from Tappuah westward to the Brook Kanah, and it ended at the sea. This was the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Ephraim according to their families. The separate cities for the children of Ephraim were among the inheritance of the children of Manasseh, all the cities with their villages. And they did not drive out the Canaanites who dwelt in Gezer; but the Canaanites dwell among the Ephraimites to this day and have become forced laborers.”
Israel knew what God commanded concerning the inhabitants. He clearly spoke His will through Moses back in Moab. Numbers 33:50-56, “Now the Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, across from Jericho, saying, ‘Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: “When you have crossed the Jordan into the land of Canaan, then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, destroy all their engraved stones, destroy all their molded images, and demolish all their high places; you shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land and dwell in it, for I have given you the land to possess. And you shall divide the land by lot as an inheritance among your families; to the larger you shall give a larger inheritance, and to the smaller you shall give a smaller inheritance; there everyone’s inheritance shall be whatever falls to him by lot. You shall inherit according to the tribes of your fathers. But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall be that those whom you let remain shall be irritants in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall harass you in the land where you dwell. Moreover it shall be that I will do to you as I thought to do to them.” ’ ”
Instead of carrying out God's commands, the tribes decide to compromise. Instead of removing the wickedness, they believe they can have control over the wicked people by forcing them to become their slaves. God knows that wickedness will lead the righteous astray. Proverbs 12:26, “The righteous should choose his friends carefully, For the way of the wicked leads them astray.” Thinking you can have mastery over wickedness that you've allowed in your life or home is nothing more than deception. You've been tricked! Take heed that you do not lose your reward and end up receiving the judgement planned for the wicked.
God has given us an inheritance. 1 Peter 1:3-5, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” The question is, will we fully take possession of our inheritance? In order to do so, we must drive out the wickedness in our lives, and utterly destroy it. Otherwise, it will cause us to sin against our God. 1 Corinthians 15:50, “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption.”
Knowing how precious or inheritance is, and that it can be taken away, we ought to live our lives in the pursuit of holiness, motivated by a fear of God. 1 Peter 1:13-19, “Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, 'Be holy, for I am holy.' And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”
In this chapter, the borders of the tribes of Joseph, Ephraim and part of Manasseh are defined. Within their land, there were still Canaanites that were living there and needed to be defeated. This was the tribes job, but they didn't defeat them.
ReplyDeleteA lot of tribes didn't fully drive out the Canaanites, and allowed them to live among them. This was disobedience to the Lord, and ultimately dragged them down with them. Bad company corrupts good morals, and when we put ourselves around those who practice evil, our walks will be affected. The Israelites eventually turned to idolatry, but they probably didn't think much of it at the moment.
We need to be careful who we put ourselves around. We may not think anything of it at the time, but over time we will change and sometimes not think anything of it. The Israelites choice now, affected them well into the future. We need to make sure that we choose friends who are going to edify us and help us grow closer to the Lord, not farther a part.
The border went out from Tappuah westward to the Brook Kanah, and it ended at the sea. This was the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Ephraim according to their families. The separate cities for the children of Ephraim were among the inheritance of the children of Manasseh, all the cities with their villages. And they did not drive out the Canaanites who dwelt in Gezer; but the Canaanites dwell among the Ephraimites to this day and have become forced laborers. Joshua 16:8-10
ReplyDeleteThe children of Ephhraim did not obey the Lord, they did not drive out the Canaanites. Instead they dwelt with and became forced laborers. The Israelites had the power to kick them out, but they wanted laborers. So instead of kicking them out kick God said, they had Canaanites dwell with them. Not kicking them out opened the door for evil and corrupt practices to start in Israel. Instead of getting rid of all evil things, they let it roam around, which could've been the start of idol worshiping.
When you do not obey the Lord, we are not only sinning against Him, but we are also opening the door for more sin. We need obey the Lord, not go against what He says.