Acceptance to Affirmation

The surrounding nations were to produce holiness in Israel

The word that we find in verses 1&4 “prove” carries with it the sense of training....

The purpose of the nations around them was to produce in them holiness

It was to set them apart

What is happening is that this up and coming generation in Israel was a generation that did not have experiential knowledge of their history

This up and coming generation is not familiar with the battles that were fought.

The reference to the five lords of the Philistines

The Canaanites

The Sidonians

The Hivites

These were those that the previous generation had failed to drive out.

Therefore, at the end of chapter two we learn that because of this disobedience the Lord’s anger was hot towards Israel

Chapter three is the using of those nations for the good of the current generation.

We look at this passage and I see two things.

There were a lot of battles fought by the previous generation.

There was a lot of good done

But they never finished the job

Now there is a generation reaping the consequences of their decisions

Secondly, there were a lot of battles left to be fought.

There were nations left in the land, due to the previous generation, and the current generation needed to fight those battles.

The previous generation responded but not correctly

The subsequent generations, due to that, had to fight

Then in verses 5-6 we see Israel cohabitating with these nations

Verse 5....”And the children of Israel dwelt among......

Verse 6…And they took their daughters and gave their sons

The result of this cohabitation was a diminished normalcy

What was the standard in the past changed due to the cohabitation

Don’t get me wrong here…cultures change

What is eaten changes

What is considered recreation changes

What is worn changes

This is not what we are dealing with here

Here it is similar to the morning service

They knew better and did it anyway

This, I believe, was due to them being too close to the nations around them

Verses 6-8 show that normalcy leads to acceptance

They went from being among them to being like them

Again, there are areas that this isn’t sinful

Culture changes

But where God’s word is clear we are required to be obedient

They knew it was not God’s will for them to inter marry

Due to the normalcy they accepted what was not biblical

God was no longer the standard, culture was

Culture is not our standard for right and wrong

It can be in some areas but it ought never to be our standard morally!

Verses 9-11 Israel cries out to God and God provided a deliverer

In our culture we would say that they cried out in repentance

This is the first step on the path to righteousness

If at any level we are too close to the world and too far from God our response first and foremost needs to be one of repentance

To acknowledge that it is about God and His plan and purpose…it is not about what we want or plan.

It isn’t even about how we have done things in the past

As human beings we could be wrong!

We need to seek out the Lord,

Not tradition

Not what the world says

Not what we think or desire

We need to honestly look into God’s word and seek out His heart and His desires

As soon as what I want or what I think becomes my foundation then everything I build upon that foundation will come crumbling down.

It is only the Word of God that we find a sure foundation for how we live this life

We need to be exposed to the word of God and saturated by it

It needs to color everything in our lives

God did send us a deliverer

He sent us Jesus

He delivered us from the chains of the Law and from the chains of sin to live in the grace of the glorious Gosple

We are free to live a life of obedience

Not to live a life of wants and desires

Not a freedom to live as we want

We were bought with a price to be given the opportunity to live a life of obedience to God’s Word and His commands

It is OUR place to set aside OUR desires and look to the Lord and His word for how we live this life

292 The Bible Stands