COEXISTING WITH THE ENEMY

 Judges 1:27-36 has an important lesson for Christians today. We have an enemy: sin. And though God has promised us that "sin shall not have dominion over you" (Romans 6:14) and He has commanded us to "put to death therefore what is earthly in you" (Colossians 3:5 ESV), we sometimes find it more comfortable to coexist with our fleshly passions. That's what the tribes of Israel did with the wicked inhabitants of the land. 

Although the LORD had allotted to the land to twelve tribes and promised victory over the inhabitants of the land, they did not drive out the wicked, idolatrous nations but lived among them. In the case of Asher and Naphtali, the situation was even 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 it were authority, conviction, or even the filling of the Holy Spirit! The stubborn man may prizes his gift as stalwart conviction. The bully is but assertive, 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.