Setting – Israel wasn’t able to drive out all of the Canaanites.
Content – Israel was unable to drive out the inhabitants of the land starting with Judah (v. 19), “Now the LORD was with Judah, and they took possession of the hill country; but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley because they had iron chariots”, (v. 21), “But the sons of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem…” etc. Verse 28 summarizes it, “It came about when Israel became strong, that they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but they did not drive them out completely”
This sets the stage with Israel having problems in the future because of the pagan practices of the Canaanites.
Application – God wanted Israel to fully drive out the inhabitants of Canaan. If not, they would be influenced by their customs and worship of foreign gods.
We need to drive out of our lives our sin and those things that distract us from our focus on God, Hebrews 12:1-2b states it clearly, “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus…”
Busyness is a common problem of distraction from God. I end up being too busy to pray, to study God’s word and to on Him. For the busy problem, I must re-prioritize to have God first and things second. We see how busyness affects our lives when we go on a retreat. It is during these retreats that we refocus on God and realize our “running on half-throttle” approach to our walk with Christ.
Content – Israel was unable to drive out the inhabitants of the land starting with Judah (v. 19), “Now the LORD was with Judah, and they took possession of the hill country; but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley because they had iron chariots”, (v. 21), “But the sons of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem…” etc. Verse 28 summarizes it, “It came about when Israel became strong, that they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but they did not drive them out completely”
This sets the stage with Israel having problems in the future because of the pagan practices of the Canaanites.
Application – God wanted Israel to fully drive out the inhabitants of Canaan. If not, they would be influenced by their customs and worship of foreign gods.
We need to drive out of our lives our sin and those things that distract us from our focus on God, Hebrews 12:1-2b states it clearly, “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus…”
Busyness is a common problem of distraction from God. I end up being too busy to pray, to study God’s word and to on Him. For the busy problem, I must re-prioritize to have God first and things second. We see how busyness affects our lives when we go on a retreat. It is during these retreats that we refocus on God and realize our “running on half-throttle” approach to our walk with Christ.
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