Daily Reading: Joshua 15–17
Click here to listen to Alexander Scourby reading the King James Bible.
Text: Joshua 17:11–13
Manasseh had a good inheritance on paper. “And Manasseh had in Issachar and in Asher Bethshean and her towns, and Ibleam and her towns, and the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, and the inhabitants of En‑dor and her towns, and the inhabitants of Taanach and her towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns, even three countries” (Joshua 17:11). Cities, borders, land—God had given them a place to live and room to grow. The problem wasn’t the map; it was the man. “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” (Joshua 17:12–13). They went from “could not drive out” to “did not utterly drive them out.” It stopped being about ability and started being about willingness.
That’s how a lot of Christians handle the flesh. At first we say, “I can’t help it.” Later, when we’ve been saved a while and “waxen strong,” we don’t even pretend we want it gone. We just put it to tribute. We manage it. We keep it around like the Canaanites—useful, profitable, tame (so we think), something we can control. You don’t utterly drive it out; you keep it under your roof and call it “just how I am.” The sin that once whipped you is now on your payroll. You used to cry over it; now you schedule it.
Hebrews says, “let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us” (Hebrews 12:1). Beset means wrap around, trap, entangle. You’re trying to run while something has its hands around your ankles. Manasseh was supposed to clear the ground; instead, he chose to live with constant obstacles and enemies under his feet. You’re supposed to lay aside that besetting sin; instead, you work it into your routine and joke about it like a pet. You don’t call it Canaan; you call it “my weakness,” “my little issue,” “my personality.” But it still “would dwell in that land” (Joshua 17:12), and it still besets you.
Notice the order in Joshua 17: “could not drive out” and then “when… waxen strong… did not utterly drive them out” (Joshua 17:12–13). At the beginning of a struggle, you really do feel like you can’t beat it. Later, with Bible, preaching, years of truth, and answered prayers under your belt, the problem isn’t that you can’t—it’s that you won’t. You’re stronger now, but your obedience hasn’t caught up. Some of the “strongest” Christians on the outside have the most pampered Canaanites on the inside. The flesh never complains about being taxed; it complains when you try to kill it.
The sad part is, you start to believe your own lie. “I’ve got this under control. It’s under tribute. I can stop any time I want.” You say that about your temper, your screen habits, your bitterness, your gossip, your pride, your secret vice. The whole time, that Canaanite is quietly building a life in your territory. You think you’re using it; it’s really using you. You don’t see the fights you lose, the joy that leaks out, the dullness in prayer, the way your heart melts like water every time the Lord puts His finger on that area (Joshua 7:5). You’re held captive by what you think you’ve captured.
Hebrews 12 goes on to talk about chastening: “whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth” (Hebrews 12:6). A Father who loves His children doesn’t stand back and applaud when they invite Canaanites into the living room. He deals with them. Sometimes He lets you trip in the race you were sure you could run with that sin hanging off you. Sometimes He pulls away peace, or power, or opportunity, until you’re finally willing to call that thing what He calls it and lay it aside instead of taxing it. It’s not because He hates you; it’s because He refuses to pretend that “tribute” is the same thing as “utterly driving them out” (Joshua 17:13).
So let’s quit hiding behind Manasseh’s excuse. What is that one thing that “doth so easily beset” you—the one you’ve stopped even trying to drive out, because you’ve learned to live with it and profit from it (Hebrews 12:1)? If the Lord walked your borders with Joshua 17 in His hand, would He point to that area and say, “the Canaanites would dwell in that land” (Joshua 17:12), while you’re busy explaining how strong you’ve become? It’s time to stop taxing what God told you to kill, and start laying aside what you’ve let live far too long.
Keep reading because tomorrow we’re going to cross into Joshua 18–20 and see how God finishes dividing the land and makes room for both refuge and responsibility.
Until tomorrow, stay in the Book. 📖
Brother Tony