Joshua 15:63 As for the Jebusites the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of Judah could not drive them out: but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Judah at Jerusalem unto this day.
Joshua 16:10 And they drave not out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer: but the Canaanites dwell among the Ephraimites unto this day, and serve under tribute.
Joshua 17:12 Yet the children of Manasseh could not drive out the inhabitants of those cities; but the Canaanites would dwell in that land. :13 Yet it came to pass, when the children of Israel were waxen strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute; but did not utterly drive them out.
As we read threw the details of the inheritance divided among the tribes of Israel you will come to these verses telling us of their short coming to utterly drive out all the inhabitants. This failure to do so made it impossible for their Canaan to be at complete peace. Now I want to make two applications today, One practical application and one heavenly application.
Practically speaking and attempting to make an application for the here and now, we can see the folly in not wholly following The Lord in His commands in our life. Our Canaan is best enjoyed if we have driven out the sinful inhabitants of lust, greed, malice, envy, lying and all other fruits of the flesh. Many Christian today want to see how much like the world they can be and still be considered a "Christian." Many Christians today believe that because we are saved by grace that we don't have an obligation to live a life separate from the lost world. Yes, I believe that if you have been born again that you are sealed and sin cannot cause you to lose your inheritance but it can affect your living and peace on this earth, also I'll echo the words of Paul the Apostle " Should we sin that grace may abound? God forbid." Jesus said if you love me do my commandments. I challenge you in your spare time to read and soak in Matt 5,6 & 7 at the end of Jesus' sermon he likened all that would hear and do his sayings a wise man and the ones who heard and did not, foolish. What does any of this have to do with the inheritance of the tribes of Israel though? Well I'm glad you asked. There inheritance wasn't affected by the presence of the enemy, they still received the same amount. It was the experience of their inheritance that was affected by their failure to wholly follow God.
Friend if you are one of His children your sin won't affect the inheritance that you have received but it will greatly affect how you experience that inheritance. I am convinced that the church of today has instead of expelling worldliness has embraced worldliness. Notice they put the adversary to work: Joshua 17:12 Yet the children of Manasseh could not drive out the inhabitants of those cities; but the Canaanites would dwell in that land. :13 Yet it came to pass, when the children of Israel were waxen strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute; but did not utterly drive them out.
At first they could not expel them but then it comes to pass that they become strong but instead of using that strength to drive them out they put them to work. I'm reminded of the church of today, Churches have instead of driving out worldliness have embraced it and attempted to make it work for them. Dear friend, it didn't work for Israel and it won't work for the church. Sure if your goal is numbers or buildings or any other temporal achievement then you can apply your marketing schemes and attend all the church growth seminars and you can learn how to build a business that is labeled "church". Our churches today have buildings, they have crowds that gather in for entertainment, they have all the means but sadly many are lacking when it comes to peace, holiness, joy, zeal and I mean a zeal that doesn't go away when the worship band stops playing. The church today has failed to expel sin and in many "churches" they have even embraced homosexuality. You can find masses of unregenerate church members that are rendering churches nothing more than houses of entertainment. The churches have failed to expel sin and our children are growing up among the enemy, learning their manners and ways. If you find yourself in a church that has failed to expel sin and call it what it is then please do you and your family a favor and find a church that isn't trying to be as much like the world as possible. Later in Israel's history we find them worshiping Canaanite gods. Where do you think those gods came from? From failure to expel the adversary and their little g gods. If you are attending a church that holds hands with the world and embraces sin instead of expelling it you are in a very dangerous position. All this brings me to the next point I want to make.
Let's make now a more eternal and heavenly application. These enemies that they failed to expel would be taken care of when God's King, David, took the throne in the centuries to come. What Israel failed to do King David came in and finally did, expelled the adversary. Oh what a reminder of what our heavenly King did for us, King Jesus. We had faltered and failed to meet the commandments of God we were unfit, unjust, incapable of expelling the enemy but when Jesus came he defeated our enemies, Death, hell and the grave. Now as Christians, our inheritance has been won for us but because we are still living in a sinful world in a sinful body we find that often times we fail still, we falter still despite our best efforts we still fail often but just wait, the rightful King is coming. Jesus is coming and when He does our experience will no longer contradict our desires. He is coming to rule and to reign and then and only then will we have complete peace from the enemy, when He cast the enemy bound hand and foot into the bottomless pit.
I live among the enemy today. I woke up with him bathed him and fed him this morning but one day I'll have rest from the enemy, my flesh. I'll have rest from the enemy, satan. We may live among the enemy but be encouraged the King is coming!!
The King is Coming, The King is Coming!!