INCOMPLETE OBEDIENCE
Part 40
Joshua 17:12-13
Morning Meditation 11/19/14
Verses 12-13 say, “Yet the children of Manasseh could not drive out the inhabitants of those cities; but the Canaanites would dwell in that land. 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.”
The people of Canaan had so corrupted themselves morally and spiritually that God had determined their destruction. They had stepped across the deadline. Deut. 20:16-17 says, “But of the cities of these people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth: But thou shalt utterly destroy them; namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee:” The Lord makes this command to Moses concerning the people of the land. These people were enemies of God and His people. The LORD knew that if they were allowed to remain that they would corrupt His people with their false gods and immorality. They are a type of the spiritual enemy we have today including the flesh. There is nothing about the flesh that can be dedicated to the service of God.. It must utterly be destroyed.
The first thing that the Christian must do in his study of the Scripture is to know that God is never wrong and that His Word on any subject must be accepted as TRUTH without question. Now an unsaved man, whether a church member or an unsaved man who makes no profession at all, are not expected to understand that kind of FAITH. It makes absolutely no sense to them. And if it doesn’t make sense they will not accept it. But we as Christians are to accept what God says as truth when it goes against our own understanding: “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.” (Prov. 3:5).
Our text says, “Yet the children of Manasseh could not drive out the inhabitants of those cities.” The inhabitants were Canaanites whom God had said should be utterly destroyed. What should be done when you come up against an enemy and you cannot defeat him? Human rationalism says, “Make friends with him. Let him along.” What happened when Israel went up against Ai and failed. Did they make friends and decide to let them stay in the land and learn to get along with them? No. They examined themselves and found the reason for their failure. God had made a promise and that promise involved the total destruction of the enemy.
The Lord makes a promise in Deut. 7:2, “And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them:” If Israel goes up against an enemy in the land at this time and could not defeat him, he has the right to go to the LORD and say, “LORD, you promised that you would be with us and enable us to defeat all our enemies.” There is no record that the children of Manasseh did this. They just accepted when they could not prevail against the Canaanites that they would allow them to stay and use them to collect tribute. There was a reason the LORD had commanded the destruction of all the nations of the land. Deut. 7:2-6 says, “And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them: Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son. For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly. But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire. For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.” The LORD gives His reasons in this passage. He knows if the people of Canaan are allowed to remain they will begin to marry them and adopt their sinful practices. So He tells them to utterly destroy them.
What lesson is there in this for us? We have in our bodies an old sin nature that was not changed when we were saved. It is there and is a constant enemy to all our attempts to serve the Lord. There is a constant warfare between the flesh and Spirit (Gal. 5:17).
Manasseh made a decision that was in conflict with what the LORD had said. Joshua 17:13 gives a clue to their reasoning: “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.” They said, “We will wait until we get strong and then we will do something about these Canaanites.” Wait a minute. Israel had not been winning victories because they were strong. They had been winning victories because the LORD was strong and He was fighting for them. They had not been losing victories because they were weak, they lost victories because they had sin in the camp. Manasseh did not come before the LORD and say, “LORD, we have a problem. It’s those Canaanites. They are too strong for us. And since our strength in the past was not the issue, we want to know why you are not giving us the victory on this occasion?” God would have answered this inquiry. But the Lord will also allow incomplete obedience and let those who fall short of obeying Him to the letter pay the price.
You cannot leave the Canaanites (a type of the sins of the flesh) in your life and employ them to enhance your service to the Lord. Sin tolerated will get you before it is over. The LORD knew that Israel would be influenced by the nations if they were allowed to remain. They would be influenced to worship their false gods, intermarry with their daughters, and be snared by their abominable practices.
What about the sins of the flesh? The Lord says, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.”
The separation of believers from unbelievers is definitely taught in this passage. Now you can adopt the concept of Manasseh and you will not be judged by most of your Christian friends. Because they are themselves living a life that is in conflict with this passage. This passage does not mean that you cannot have an unsaved person as a neighbor. It does not mean that you can’t go the same schools and participate with them in sports. It does mean that you will not be close friends with unsaved people because THE LORD ASKS in this passage, “What fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness?” Then He asks another question: “What communion hath light with darkness?” I have discovered that there seems to be good fellowship between many church members and the unsaved. Is God wrong in this passage of Scripture? If not, why don’t you do what it says? You say, “I just can’t drop my friends.” You will have to decide. Because serving the Lord is a choice. The Lord teaches that we must deal drastically with the FLESH. Our desire to maintain a relationship with one whom God tells us to stop is a desire (Canaanite) arising from the flesh. We cannot control the flesh. We cannot employ it to accomplish God’s ends. Incomplete obedience is a serious mistake. If we are sold out to the Lord we will do what God says. If you tolerate sins of the flesh you will find yourself in conflict with a faithful pastor who will dare to expose these kinds of sins. You will also find yourself feeling rejected and uncomfortable around Christians who are sold out the the Lord. The people you shouldn’t be comfortable around, you are right at home. The people that you should be comfortable around, you are uncomfortable. Incomplete obedience is the sin of Manasseh.
May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.
In Christ
Bro. White
