Driving Out Our Spiritual Enemies

Read Judges 1:27-36.  

Although the LORD had allotted the land and promised victory over the inhabitants of the land, the tribes of Israel did not drive out the wicked, idolatrous nations but lived among them. In the case of Asher and Naphtali, the situation was worse: Asher and Naphtali "lived among the inhabitants of the land." The Amorites actually "forced the sons of Dan into the hill country, for they did not allow them to come down to the valley . . . but when the power of the house of Joseph grew strong, they became forced labor." (1:34, 35) 

There is a powerful lesson here for Christians: God has promised us spiritual rest (Hebrews 3 & 4), secured for us by Christ's sacrifice on the cross. Yet there are enemies -- "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life" (1 John 2:16) -- for us to drive out. We must "put to death the deeds of the body" (Rom. 8:13; Col. 3:5). Yet we have the tendency to allow these enemies, the natural "inhabitants of the land," to dwell in our midst, in our thoughts and their resulting actions. What's worse, we sometimes feel we can put these subtle sins to useful work, even the Lord's work. So the arrogant man parades his sin from the pulpit as if it were authority, conviction, or even the filling of the Holy Spirit! The stubborn man may prize his gift as stalwart conviction. The bully sees himself as assertive and the schemer, a problem solver.

Who are the Amorites, Perizites, Jebusites, and Canaanites that we allow to dwell in our "land," our Christian walk with Christ? Are we tolerating them as harmless neighbors? Are we even trying to put them to "forced labor" either for our personal gain or for our service for Christ? Eventually these enemies will corrupt our faith and testimony and even alter our beliefs. As someone has said, "Our beliefs must change our behavior, or our behavior will change our beliefs." That is what happened to the Israelites. They decided that Baal and Ashtoreth were more congenial gods (Judges 2:11-14).  We must give no quarter to sin. We must drive out every sin, every natural "inhabitant of the land," if we hope to enjoy a peaceful, happy, and productive Christian life.

Esau's Reward vs. Israel's Reward

'To Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau, and to Esau I gave Mount Seir to possess it; but Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt. (Joshua 24:4)

The LORD gave Esau Mt. Seir, but sent Israel into Egypt, where they remained for 400 years. God’s people may be tempted to envy the wicked (see Psalm 73), and to wonder why God gives them hardship while worldly people enjoy the comfort and pleasures of this world. The LORD is good and gracious even to unbelievers (Matthew 5:45), but since they do not value spiritual, eternal treasures, their reward is limited to this life. “Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full” (Matthew 6:2, 5, 16). 

But God is working to prepare His people for something infinitely better than what this fallen world can offer. And He is reserving the wicked for judgment (Psalm 1:5; 2 Thess. 1:5-6), as He demonstrated in Egypt.