Are We Slackers?

Introduction

Good morning and welcome back!

This morning we are going to be looking back a bit into the Book of Joshua.

We are going to be looking at parts of chapter 17 and chapter 18.

And what we have going on in this passage is the division of God’s inheritance among the Israelite people.

During this time, the children of Israel are engaged in full combat and actively driving out the Canaanites from the land God had promised them. 

Here though we are going to find the recording of the division of the land to the children of the tribe of Manasseh and their struggle to drive the Canaanites out from their land that they had taken. 

And their struggle wasn’t because God had abandoned them or just left them to fight an enemy that was too strong for them.

No, rather their struggle was an internal one and one that I think we often struggle with as well.

So, before we get too far into the message, let’s look at a few of the verses we need to focus on.

First, I am going to read Joshua 17:11-13 and then we will skip down to Joshua 18 and read verses 1-4.

Joshua records this, starting in chapter 17, verse 11 . . .

Scripture Focus

Joshua 17:11–13 NIV - Anglicised

Within Issachar and Asher, Manasseh also had Beth Shan, Ibleam and the people of Dor, Endor, Taanach and Megiddo, together with their surrounding settlements (the third in the list is Naphoth). Yet the Manassites were not able to occupy these towns, for the Canaanites were determined to live in that region. However, when the Israelites grew stronger, they subjected the Canaanites to forced labour but did not drive them out completely.

And

Joshua 18:1–4 NIV - Anglicised

The whole assembly of the Israelites gathered at Shiloh and set up the Tent of Meeting there. The country was brought under their control, but there were still seven Israelite tribes who had not yet received their inheritance. So Joshua said to the Israelites: “How long will you wait before you begin to take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you? Appoint three men from each tribe. I will send them out to make a survey of the land and to write a description of it, according to the inheritance of each. Then they will return to me.

Dwelling with the Canaanites

So, we see starting out here that the the taking and the division of the land to the Israelites was not as cut and dry as we sometimes would like to think.

Even though God had promised them this inheritance and God had delivered on His promises, the Canaanites didn’t just up and leave.

And even though they had been fighting for a while already with the Canaanites, they still had not driven them completely out of the Land.

Again, verse 11 tells us . . .

Joshua 17:11 NIV - Anglicised

Within Issachar and Asher, Manasseh also had Beth Shan, Ibleam and the people of Dor, Endor, Taanach and Megiddo, together with their surrounding settlements (the third in the list is Naphoth).

So, God had given them these lands, and if we read the first 10 verses of that chapter, we will see the rest of the division of the land.

But that is not the point that this Scripture is really making.

The point is the struggle that the people had in actually taking the lands and keeping the lands.

Again, starting in verse 12, Joshua records . . .

Joshua 17:12–13 NIV - Anglicised

Yet the Manassites were not able to occupy these towns, for the Canaanites were determined to live in that region. However, when the Israelites grew stronger, they subjected the Canaanites to forced labour but did not drive them out completely.

So, here Joshua is recording that the children of Manasseh were never able to drive out the inhabitants of those cities and the Canaanites continued to live in those towns and cities. 

Why was this?

Why were they not able to defeat this enemy and drive them out the land?

After all, God said He was giving it to them.

Did God lie to them?

Were the Canaanites too powerful, more powerful than God?

The Bible plainly tells us that the Israelites would drive out all the inhabitants of the land, so why were they not able to drive out these inhabitants?

Well, the reality is, it had nothing to do with the Canaanites but everything to do with the children of Israel. 

These Canaanites represented something to the children of Israel. 

They represented their:

Fears

Weaknesses

Infirmities

Sins

Weights

 And that was the root of their problem and the reason they couldn’t drive them out.

It wasn’t that the Canaanites were too powerful or strong.

It was because the Israelite were unwilling to face the real things that God was trying to get them to get rid of in their lives.

They didn’t want to deal with their fears.

They didn’t want to confront their weaknesses.

They didn’t want to cast off their infirmities and sins.

They didn’t want to shed the weights that continued to weigh them down.

And we also struggle with the Canaanites in our lives as well.

God tells us to drive them out but we cannot.

He tells us to cast them off but we refuse.

We are no different than the Israelites.

If we look at Hebrews 12 the Bible tells us we are to:

Hebrews 12:1 NIV - Anglicised

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

And I know we talked about this verse last week, but it needs to be repeated.

God is telling us to throw off the sin and weight, and everything else that hinders us and holds us back and run our race.

Then in verse 2 . . .

Hebrews 12:2–3 NIV - Anglicised

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

And our problem, like the Israelites is, we take ours eyes off God.

We start down our own path and go our own way.

We get inwardly focused and forget all about making God the center of our lives and our focus.

And we lack endurance.

Folks, this Christian walk is a marathon, not a sprint.

It is a long race and sometimes it is a hard race.

And we have to have endurance if we are going to make it.

And was the problem with the children of Israel, they were not looking to God for their faith. 

They were unwilling and unable to lay aside the weights and sins in their life. 

They wanted to hold on to the flesh and not give in to God. 

It was for that reason that they were never able to completely drive out the Canaanites. 

 So, what happened? 

They settled. 

Honestly, they settled for second best.

Look at verse 13 in our text again . . .

Joshua 17:13 NIV - Anglicised

However, when the Israelites grew stronger, they subjected the Canaanites to forced labour but did not drive them out completely.

So the Israelites became stronger and were able to "put the Canaanites to tribute" or make them their slaves, but were never able to drive them completely out. 

On the surface, we think this is a good thing. After all the Israelites were “in control.”

However, there is a major problem with this. 

 You see they may have been able to subdue the Canaanites for a while but they were always there, they never went away. 

Those sins, weights, infirmities, weaknesses were still there but they were just shoved to the back of mind.

 And our lives are like the children of Israel's journey into the land of Canaan. 

Through faith God leads us through the wilderness into the promised land (salvation) but God gives us the responsibility for driving out the sin in our lives. 

Let’s face it we all have weaknesses, we all have infirmities, and if we are not sanctified we have a root of sin in our lives still. 

The thing we have to ask ourselves though is, do we want to drive out the sin nature or do we want push it to the back of minds and sweep it under the rug, doing our best to keep it under subjection?

 Do we want to have victory or do we want to live with Canaanites in our lives? 

The thing is, they lived with their Canaanites and eventually, the Canaanites that were once their slaves began to influence their lives and eventually you couldn't tell the difference between who the Canaanite was and who the Israelite was!

 This folks is exactly what is going on in the church world today. 

We have a bunch of Christians who want to look like the world and are walking around unsanctified and trying to defeat sin with no power. 

They wanted to be like the world. 

Just like everybody else. 

Remember what we talked about in 1 Samuel a few weeks ago . . .

1 Samuel 8:4–9 NIV - Anglicised

So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.” But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do.”

In this passage, Samuel is now an old man and his sons are not walking with God and the elders of Israel came to Samuel and told him that they want a king just like the rest of the nations. 

They want to be just like everybody else. 

Samuel is displeased by this because the people are walking after the flesh and not after God. 

Instead of being God's Holy people set apart, they want to be like the rest of the world. 

And we know the story.

Samuel then prays and consults God, who tells Samuel that it is not Samuel they are rejecting but God himself. 

And folks, when we fail to deal with sin in our lives we are doing no less than serving the flesh and rejecting God! 

The end results for the Israelites in this situation was the appointment of King Saul.

I wonder, what is going to be the consequence of our rejection of God? 

How Long Are We Going to Wait?

And we could end right here, but there was a little bit more that I read.

Look again at Joshua 18:1-4

Joshua 18:1–4 NIV - Anglicised

The whole assembly of the Israelites gathered at Shiloh and set up the Tent of Meeting there. The country was brought under their control, but there were still seven Israelite tribes who had not yet received their inheritance. So Joshua said to the Israelites: “How long will you wait before you begin to take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you? Appoint three men from each tribe. I will send them out to make a survey of the land and to write a description of it, according to the inheritance of each. Then they will return to me.

So, what’s the point here?

Well, Joshua is actually calling them out and wants to know how long they are going to wait before claiming what God has promised them? 

How long are they going to slack off from the work that God has called them to do in order to claim what was theirs?

 What about us? 

How long are we going to slack and not accept the inheritance that God has promised all who follow him? 

How long are we going to slack in our responsibility to God has called us to fulfill? 

Here’s the good news though,

Although we may be slackers God is not:

2 Peter 3:9 NIV - Anglicised

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

God is so longsuffering that He has done everything in order for us to come to repentance. 

God has went as far as to even send His only son, who lived a perfect sinless life, to die as the offering for our sin. 

All God is asking us to do is to come and accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. 

Not with our mouth but with our heart. 

However, if we continue to slack off and do not come we will miss out.  

2 Peter 3:10 NIV - Anglicised

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.

Altar/Challenge

The alter call is simple. 

What will it be?

Will we claim our inheritance or will we continue to miss out on the blessings God has in store for us? 

Will we continue to slack on our calling? 

Will we continue to allow sin to reside within us? 

Or are we ready to claim our victory and claim our inheritance? 

Let’s pray . . .