Living Room Study

Joshua 16

“This was the inheritance of the tribe of the descendants of Ephraim by their clans, together with the cities set apart for the descendants of Ephraim within the inheritance of the descendants of Manasseh all these cities with their villages. But, they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer. So the Canaanites live in Ephraim to this day, but they are forced laborers.” Joshua 16:10

Today’s passage is a continuation of the notion that Israel’s deliverance into Canaan is also a metaphor for our deliverance through Jesus. Once the major enemies had been destroyed, the individual Israelite tribes were given the task of driving-out the rest of the land’s inhabitants.

This is a metaphor for us, because while Jesus has conquered sin and death, we are charged with the task of subduing our fleshly desires, our former masters.

The apostle Paul said, “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good purpose.”" Philippians 2: 12b-13

Paul wasn’t telling his friends to work in order to earn their salvation. We are saved by grace, not of good works. Ephesians 2: 8-9. Paul was saying that Christians must work hard to drive out the old self, in order to enjoy the fullness of our salvation, which was given by grace. If we will fight, God will go before us even giving us the will to fight!

In the same way, Israel was delivered into Canaan by God’s grace, but they would never enjoy the land until they removed the remaining insurgents. Think of the recent Middle East war. The Coalition forces eliminated Iraq & Afghanistan’s ability to wage full-scale war years ago, but there will never be peace until all the terrorist insurgents are neutralized.

The tribe of Ephraim puts a new twist on failure to dispossess. Unlike some of the Judean families, who could not drive out the Jebusites, so they allowed them to remain neighbors. Ephraim chose to make the remnant of Gezer their slaves.

Friends, don’t rest until you have driven-out ALL the former inhabitants of your land. You cannot be neighbors with your old sin nature, and you cannot make it your slave. It will not be mastered, because its nature is to master you!

Blessings.

Steve Wiggins