“The house of Yosef likewise attacked Beit-El;
and Adonai was with them.“
-Judges 1:22
In verse 22, for the first time, we’re introduced to “the house of Joseph”.
Technically speaking, the house of Joseph was made up of 1/2 of the tribe of Manessah (recall the other half of Manessah decided to settle on east side of the Jordan River) and the tribe of Ephraim.
However, one thing you should know is when the Bible says “the house of Joseph” often it is ONLY referring to the tribe of Ephraim.
But not aways.
In some cases, “the house of Joseph” can mean both 1/2 of Manessah and Ephraim together as one whole.
It all depends on the context and sometimes it can be hard to tell which is which.
However, in this case, “the house of Joseph” is most likely only referring to Ephraim because what’s taking place is occurring inside Ephraim territory.
So we’ve been reading about how Israel has been attacking the Canaanite cities one after another.
This is as good a time as ever to remind you this is what God wanted.
That’s right folks.
The Lord fully expected His People to attack and drive the Canaanites out.
On the other side of the coin, what the Lord did NOT expect Israel to do was enter into peace treaties with their neighbors.
Sorry folks.
This is probably the most politically incorrect truth you’ll ever hear but it’s true.
God’s clear instructions to Israel were that the Canaanites were supposed to be driven out.
And if they refused, they were to be killed.
The only exception was if the enemy decided to drop allegiance to their false gods and make the decision to worship HaShem instead.
Which in that case, would mean they would no longer be the enemy.
Of course, the perfect example of this is Rahab and her family who was fully grafted into the commonwealth of Israel.
Yesterday I mentioned just how relevant the Scriptures are to what’s happening in our times and today’s post is no exception.
‘Cause whether you wanna accept it or not, the Israelis who are living in the Promised Land today and who suffer rocket attacks and suicide bombings on a regular basis are victims of Joshua’s only partial conquest of Canaan 3000 years ago.
That’s right.
What Joshua failed to do 3000 years ago is affecting Israelis in the land to this very day.
And you know what makes this even more interesting?
The reason behind why Joshua and his men failed is the very same reason behind all of the problems plaguing mankind today:
A REFUSAL TO TRUST GOD.
Period.
People always want to “help” God out by inserting their own twisted and false sense of morality and mercy into the equation and without fail it results in total chaos.
Of course the doctrinal error often committed is saying we’re abiding by some nebulous higher New Testament law of “love” and being led by the warm fuzzies of the Holy Spirit that somehow supersedes God’s clear instructions in Scripture.
Look man, I don’t care how much you feel like you’re being led by the Holy Spirit.
If what you’re “feeling” goes against God’s clear Scriptural commands, you’re in the wrong, period.
Got it homie?
‘Cause here’s a couple of ugly truth bombs for ya.
Once the Hebrews entered their land inheritance and encountered their neighbors, they probably said to themselves…
…“Hey, you know what? These people really aren’t that different from ourselves”.
Then they probably reasoned to themselves…
…“I know some Israelites who even have family ties with some of these Canaanites”.
And that’s when the slippery slope becomes just too slippery.
They then think to themselves…
“You know, our God is a God of Love.
That’s what my pastor preaches all the time”.
From this point, Scripture is now completely ignored.
“You know, in this situation it’s probably wiser,
not to mention the ‘loving’ thing to do
to take the more pragmatic approach”.
Finally, the deadly unscriptural conclusion is reached…
“Instead of fighting these Canaanites to the death
and driving them out of their homes,
let’s instead enter into a peace treaty with them
and try to ‘love’ them into accepting
our God”…
…said nowhere in Scripture anywhere.
That is a very well thought out essay, and I agree with your arguments. Israel can not afford to give in to the World Order but must follow the commands of Elohim. Not one spot of Israel’s land should be surrendered to her enemies. In addition, the Torah is very relevant for us in this age and “The Church” has deluded itself into ignoring the laws and instructions that the Father commanded should be observed “forever.” We can only hope that one day soon, the Church will have a true awakening.
Amen Marie.