Let’s take a look at Israel’s situation as it existed in the 1st Chapter of the Book of Judges.
FIRST, we see that Israel failed to completely drive the Canaanites out.
What happened as a result?
It forced Israel to change their political position.
They went from being a conquerer to becoming a compromiser.
And as a result of their compromising, they ended up living side-by-side with a people the Lord found detestable to Him.
The obvious takeaway here is…
…don’t we do the same when we compromise in our lives?
We eat food that is not clean.
We watch entertainment that celebrates violence and sin.
And we listen to music that pulls us away from the Lord.
We’re like a frog slowing boiling in a kettle of poisoned water but remain unawares unless something is done.
SECOND, Israel’s ability to move freely inside the land was highly restricted because their hold on it was spotty at best.
And isn’t that exactly how many believers live their lives?
In a half-baked manner.
We read the Bible only once in a blue moon (if at all).
We pray only when disaster strikes and never before.
And we go to worship or Bible study only when we feel like it.
If you only give God your second or third best, how can you expect Him to give you His very best?
THIRD, the wickedness of the Canaanites’ worship of their false gods was an ever-present danger to Israel’s purity and holiness.
This one actually ties in with what I said in my first point.
The simple truth is unless we take measures to control our environment-meaning what we regularly absorb through our electronic devices and who we hang out with-we cannot NOT help but be negatively impacted.
The takeaway here is simple: control your environment OR it will control you.
FINALLY and this is a big one.
Israel decided it was wiser to opt for the politically convenient solution of entering into peace treaties with the Canaanites rather than expelling them from the land per God’s command.
Economic temptations got the better of them because Israel saw they could turn the Canaanites they conquered into their own personal labor force.
So they “reasoned” with themselves in this particular case it was okay, heck maybe it was even God’s unexpressed will that they not drive them out.
Um…NOT!
Again, the takeaway here is crystal clear:
Letting political correctness or economic temptation override God’s explicit commands results in anything but positive results.
You get political chaos which leads to war.
This then leads to huge economic losses because you spend millions of dollars fighting a war that never would have happened in the first place had the Canaanites been driven out of the land per God’s original and explicit instructions.
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