Please read Joshua 16.
www.blueletterbible.org/nasb/jos/16/1/s_203001
Meditate on verse 10.
But they did not drive out the Canaanites who
lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites
live in the midst of Ephraim to this day,
and they became forced laborers.
Why was complete removal of the Canaanites from the Promised Land so important to God? Canaan was divided into city-states and ruled by individual kings, but the people had a common religion characterized by the worship of many gods. These gods were seen as guardians of the universe and vital to nature and society. Their images were in Canaanite homes and temples, with priests supplying them with food and clothing, hoping they would provide abundant crops, fertile herds, and prosperity to the ruling king and his family.1
Hear , O Israel! The LORD is our God; the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD
your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
—Deuteronomy 6:4-5
The LORD knew His people’s heart, soul, and might would easily turn to other gods if those gods and the people who worshiped them were allowed to remain in the land. The same is true for us today. We can be easily distracted by worldly things competing for our heart, soul, and might.
Seek the LORD and His strength to drive out the distractions in your life, using the words from Joshua 16:10 as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).
“LORD, please help __________ and me drive out
anything in our lives that is god instead
of You. Do not let those things become
forced laborers controlling our lives.
In Your name, Jesus~”
1. Syrian and Palestinian religions. (1987). In Encyclopædia Britannica: Macropædia (Vol. 24, p. 73). Chicago, IL: Encyclopædia Brittanica.
The WATCHMAN on the WALL, 4 – Dr. Ron and Marsha Harvell
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