In 1797 the governor of Louisiana granted Daniel Boone ten thousand acres of land in Missouri; however, he failed to make the trip to New Orleans to complete the title. He instead became distracted by an opportunity to be appointed chief of the district of St. Charles.(1)
While he was preoccupied with other affairs, squatters intruded on his land. When he finally filed to complete the title, his claim was rejected because of “his failure to complete his title of gift, and his failure to occupy the land claimed.”(2) You see, in the law of homesteading, if a claimant failed to occupy a piece of property for a specified period of time then the land would be forfeited and made available to other settlers.
When I preached on staying the course, I briefly touched on how the Israelites had become tired of fighting, and how they were tempted to allow the Canaanites to live and remain in the land with them. This morning, we will see how the Israelites had actually succumb to temptation and - by their failure to fully occupy the land - had forfeited their right to Canaan. The motivation for this forfeiture was not much different than it was for Daniel Boone.
Failing to Entirely Conquer the Land (Joshua 16:9-10, 17:12-13; Judges 1:27-33)
The incompletion of conquest, and the failure to exercise our God-given right to what God has promised, can lead to losing our blessing. In Hebrews chapter 12 we read, “[Look] carefully lest anyone fall short . . . lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears” (Hebrews 12:15a, 16-17).
Esau was weary when he arrived from working in the field (Genesis 25:29); and therefore, he sold his inheritance and blessing for some bread and a bowl of lentil stew (25:34). If we grow weary in serving the Lord, and begin seeking comfort and fulfillment in the things of this world, and begin serving our own pleasures instead of God’s divine purpose, then we can easily lose our inheritance. Now, keep in mind that I’m not talking about losing our salvation, but losing our calling and forfeiting a blessing.
Let’s take a moment to consider how the Israelites had gown tired and begun serving their own pleasures, and thus failing to occupy their inheritance. Let’s first look at the account of the failure of Ephraim, which is found in Joshua 16:9-10:
9 The separate cities for the children of Ephraim were among the inheritance of the children of Manasseh, all the cities with their villages. 10 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.
We are told that Ephraim had allowed the Canaanites to live among them, and had made them into forced laborers. What was the motivation? They likely reasoned, “Why not let someone else do all the hard work while we take it easy?” I will discuss this some more in a moment. Now, let’s look at the account of the failure of Manasseh, which is found in Joshua 17:12-13:
12 Yet the children of Manasseh could not drive out the inhabitants of those cities, but the Canaanites were determined to dwell in that land. 13 And it happened, when the children of Israel grew strong, that they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not utterly drive them out.
We read that the children of Manasseh were unable to drive out the Canaanites. Perhaps this was because they had no help from their Ephraimite neighbors who had an inheritance among them (Joshua 16:9). Together they would have had the strength in numbers that was necessary to eradicate the Canaanites. We read, however, that when the Israelites of Manasseh grew strong enough that, instead of putting them out, they too forced the Canaanites into becoming laborers.
Now, we’re going to examine a more detailed account of Ephraim and Manasseh’s failure to occupy the land; and we will find another possible motivation behind their disobedience. This account is found in Judges 1:27-33:
27 However, 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 were determined to dwell in that land. 28 And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites under tribute, but did not completely drive them out.
29 Nor did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites who dwelt in Gezer; so the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them. 30 Nor did Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron or the inhabitants of Nahalol; so the Canaanites dwelt among them, and were put under tribute.
31 Nor did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Acco or the inhabitants of Sidon, or of Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik, or Rehob. 32 So the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; for they did not drive them out. 33 Nor did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh or the inhabitants of Beth Anath; but they dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land (Judges 1:27-33).
Here we read again that Ephraim and Manasseh failed to drive out the inhabitants. We also read that the tribes of Zebulun, Asher, and Naphtali allowed the Canaanites to live among them as well. The main reason this took place is because they wanted to “put the Canaanites under tribute” (vv. 28, 30), meaning they wanted the tax money from them, which included their articles of gold.
Commentator Matthew Henry stated of this passage, “By putting them under tribute . . . it shows that they spared them out of covetousness, that they might be profited by their labors, and by dealing with them for their tribute they were in danger of being infected with their idolatry.”(3)
So, not only did they want the Canaanites to do all the work, they wanted them to contribute to their pampered lifestyle. The Israelites had become distracted from their purpose of conquest by a desire for worldly gain. They sought a more luxurious existence, with the ease of someone else doing all the work and paying their way, and the repose of running from battle and confrontation.
Ephraim and Manasseh had received a great blessing from their grandfather Jacob, in which he stated that they would “grow into a great multitude in the midst of the earth” (48:16b); however, like Esau they forfeited their blessing for a “free meal.” The way in which they would grow into a great multitude was by taking possession of their inheritance and driving out the Canaanites to make room for their own expansion; however, they threw it all away for cheap labor and a steady income.
If the Lord has called us to follow a calling and we are presently in the process of taking possession of the land, then we need to beware of fatigue, distractions and shortcuts. Tiredness will result in wanting to take the easy road; whether that be giving up too early, growing lax in sharing our faith, preaching feel-good messages so that people will attend our church or Bible study, or – when applied to pastors – quitting the ministry to pursue something that is more stable and more lucrative.
Incompletion Can Return to Bite You (Judges 3:5-8)
We need to realize that failure to complete the conquest has serious consequences, including the forfeiture of our God-given inheritance and blessing. Let’s now look at Judges 3:5-8:
5 Thus the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 6 And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons; and they served their gods.
7 So the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD. They forgot the LORD their God, and served the Baals and Asherahs. 8 Therefore the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and He sold them into the hand of Cushan-Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia; and the children of Israel served Cushan-Rishathaim eight years.
The Israelites had failed to drive out all the Canaanites, choosing instead to allow some to abide among them. They had grown tired of war and were distracted by coveting, and they began asking the question that so many people pose today: “Why can’t we all just live at peace with one another?” People often fantasize about peace, but as I stated in our message on staying the course, the perception of peace is the result of compromising somewhere.
Christian author and pastor John Piper states, “Life is war. That’s not all it is. But it is always that . . . But most people do not believe this in their hearts. Most people show by their priorities and their casual approach to spiritual things that they believe we are in peacetime, not wartime.”(4)
The Israelites had compromised and submitted to the idea of tolerance, allowing everyone to believe what they wanted. They had been commanded, however, to completely remove the Canaanites from the land. Because they were tired of fighting, they disobeyed the Lord and therefore set themselves up for a great fall. The Canaanite religions eventually infiltrated the Israelites and contaminated their pure devotion to God. Commentator Warren Wiersbe says,
The Jews eventually became so accustomed to the sinful ways of their pagan neighbors that those ways didn’t seem sinful anymore. The Jews then became interested in how their neighbors worshipped, until finally Israel started to live like their enemies and imitate their ways.
For believers today, the first step away from the Lord is “friendship with the world” (James 4:4 NKJV), which then leads to our being “spotted by the world” (1:27). The next step is to “love the world” (1 John 2:15) and gradually become “conformed to this world” (Romans 12:2). This can lead to being “condemned with the world” (1 Corinthians 11:32).(5)
Failing to fully occupy the land will come back to bite us in the britches. It will lead to losing our promised inheritance and all that we’ve worked for, and result in spiritual bondage. We read how Israel was eventually enslaved by the king of Mesopotamia to serve him for eight years.
What we must keep in mind when claiming the land is that doing a halfway job will lead to a halfway return on our efforts. In the book of Haggai, we read that when the Israelites came home from the Babylonian captivity and began working to rebuild the temple that they were halfhearted in their efforts. In The Message version we read where Haggai, at the Lord’s command, declared this to the people:
Isn’t it true that your foot-dragging, halfhearted efforts at rebuilding the Temple of God were reflected in a sluggish, halfway return on your crops - half the grain you were used to getting, half the wine? (Haggai 2:15-16).
We must not allow fatigue to keep us from continuing to fight for the land that God has called us to claim in His name. We must not compromise our calling or beliefs and take the easy way out. We must give it our best, or our best will be given away. In reference to investing in kingdom work, Jesus stated, “For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away” (Matthew 25:29). Jesus said that we must use it, or we’ll lose it.
Perhaps we’ve been serving the Lord in a certain task or location for quite some time, and we’ve seen little results. We might be tempted to think, “Well, if these people want to do their own thing, then let them! I am tired of trying!” Let me remind us all that the Lord did not give up on pursuing us; therefore, we cannot give up on pursuing Him and others. We cannot give up on sharing His love with others who are running from Him.
We must persevere in faithful service, in order to hear the Lord say, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord” (Matthew 25:21); and “because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities” (Luke 19:17b). Expansion of our spiritual borders is the result of our faithfulness to obey the Lord each step of the way; even when the road is rocky and opposition is intense.
Time of Reflection
Let us not grow weary and give up on the task set before us. Let us not compromise our message and mix it with the tenets of other religions to make it more acceptable to the world. Let us be sure to complete our God-given assignment and be resolute not to take short cuts.
Joseph Stowell said, “The Greeks had a race in their Olympic games that was unique. The winner was not the runner who finished first. It was the runner who finished with his torch still lit. I want to run all the way with the flame of my torch still lit for Him.”(6) We were called to be the light of the world (Matthew 5:14). Let us not arrive at the end of the race with our flame doused by the waters of apathy, or blown out by the winds of compromise.
The apostle Paul declared, “Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1b-2).
Paul said that Jesus was faithful to endure the cross and great shame to finish the race strong, and sit down to His inheritance at the right hand of God. Will you achieve your inheritance in God’s calling? Will you be faithful to obey His will to possess the territory to which you have been led? You must be faithful to complete the conquest in order to inherit the land.
The ultimate Promised Land to which all people are called is salvation and eternal life; or, in other words, heaven. In Matthew 7:13-14, Jesus said, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Difficult is the way that leads to life. So many people reject the way to life, because they would rather live a life of ease and compromise right now.
But if you desire the forgiveness of your sins and eternal life, then you must choose Jesus. You must confess Him as Savior and Lord. John 3:16-17 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”
NOTES
(1) W. H. Perrin, J. H. Battle, and G. C. Kniffin, Kentucky: A History of the State (Louisville, KY: F. A. Battey and Company, 1887), p. 664.
(2) Ibid., p. 665.
(3) Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible
(4) John Piper, MannaExpress Online: http://www.mannaexpressonline.com/prayer-mountain/deliverance/372-how-to-prepare-for-spiritual-battles.html.
(5) Warren Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary: The Complete Old Testament (Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook, 2007), p. 430.
(6) Joseph Stowell, Fan the Flame (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1986), p. 32.
